A full round of games in Round Six capped the halfway point of the season for most teams meaning games are becoming more important as the JCL standings slowly take shape.

The Falcons narrowly squeezed past the Paddy Foleys to bring up their first win of the season.

Paddy Foleys’ Khawaja Salman, top-scored with 46, helped his side to a total of 205 before being bowled out in the 39th over. Abhijit Patil was the main enforcer for the Falcons taking a milestone five-wicket haul while allowing only 28 runs off his eight overs.

The Falcons’ chase began with a 58-opening partnership between Ankit Chawla (23) and Karthik Vellingiri (37) to give them confidence for the rest of the innings. Sarfraz Petkar came in at four with another entertaining innings as the Falcons were cruising at 176 for three. After Petkar fell at 66, the Paddy Foleys’ bowlers forced a massive collapse taking six wickets for just 18 runs. Heading towards another disappointing loss, the final two batters Abhijit Patil and Dev Mishra played a clutch 11th-wicket 20-run partnership to win for their team by one wicket against all odds.

The Rangers brought up another win over the weekend, this time against the Men In Blue making it four wins in a row.

Batting first, the Men In Blue’s top-order batters Ankit Panwar (52) and Rahul Koul (51) set the platform for a big total. Despite the lack of wickets through the bulk of the innings, the Rangers did a great job of restricting runs with Malith Neranjan at the forefront with figures of two for 26. A flurry of wickets including four runouts in the last 10 overs resulted in bowling the Men In Blue out on the last ball of the innings for 227.

Even with the competitive total that the Men In Blue set, the Rangers never lacked confidence. A massive, third-wicket partnership of 116 between Chamika Devinda (63) and Don Bhanuka (65*) put the game’s nail in the coffin chasing it down in the 34th over. Winning by six wickets, the Rangers now sit comfortably at the top of the table winning five from six.

The Wyverns made a team effort to overcome the Chiba Sharks in a mid-table battle.

Sharks’ Dhugal Bedingfield played a captain’s knock scoring 66 batting through to the 36th over while his teammates struggled to support him. Credit to the Wyverns’ bowlers as they were tough to put away, bowling the Sharks out for 152 in the 38th over. Wickets were shared around amongst the Wyverns, Kohei Kubota the best of the lot claiming two for 23 off eight overs.

With a hard total to defend, the Sharks’ bowlers worked hard to take the game as deep as possible and were periods of this game where they were on top. Despite that, a solid 48 from JCL’s leading run scorer Wataru Miyauchi, and Oshantha Nanayakkara’s not-out 43 was enough to chase the total down in the 36th over winning by six wickets.

After a shock loss last round, the Tigers got back on track with a bonus point win over the Rising Stars. 

Being put in to bat first, The Rising Stars looked promising at 100 for four at the halfway stage. Things quickly changed when TIgers’ star bowlers Piyush Kumbhare and Sabaorish Ravichadran came into the attack and ripped through the Rising Stars. Kumbhare finished with efficient figures of three for 31 as the Tigers bowled the Rising Stars out for 145 in the 36th over.

Although they lost a few wickets, the Tigers chased the total down with ease, Gagan Suri high scoring with 42. It only took till the 25th over, winning with a bonus point seven-wicket win, and are now right behind the Rangers in second place on the standings.

The Alpha Quashers’ bowling attack was unstoppable over the round handing Sano their first loss of the season. 

Sano’s strong bowling attack controlled the game early, taking regular wickets and not allowing any of the Alpha Quashers’ batters to get a start. Reo Sakurano-Thomas led the attack with figures of four for 25 off his eight overs. However, a nice 31-run final-wicket partnership pushed their total to 158 before being bowled out in the preliminary over.

The Alpha Quashers’ momentum from the first innings carried over as they dismantled the Sano batting lineup. Everyone chipped in with wickets, but it was Ibrahim Noor, the seventh bowler used, who had the best figures of three for six taking the game’s MVP. Alpha Quashers bowled Sano out for 94 in the 30th over bringing home a 64-run bonus point win. 

Max shot their way up to third on the JCL table with their big win over the Tokyo Wombats.

Alex Shirai-Patmore up top looked dangerous again early but fortunately for Max, Prabth Sankalpa dismissed him on 39. Sankalpa was Max’s best bowler getting out all the Wombats’ key batters and finishing with figures of three for 14. Despite struggling to score runs, the Wombats managed to bat out their overs on 135 for nine.

Fresh off scoring 69 last round, Hanif Niazi had another impressive batting performance scoring 62 off just 29 while sharing an opening wicket 100-run partnership with Makoto Taniyama (43*). Max chased down the total rapidly in the 13th over, scoring at over 10s ending the game with a bonus point nine-wicket win.