Kazumasa Hiratsuka inspired the Turtles to back to back wins on Day One of Futures League IV in two tightly contested matches at the Sano International Cricket Ground.

Hiratsuka struck a last-ball six to win the afternoon match against the Vipers as the Turtles successfully chased down the target of 143 with seven wickets to spare and Hiratsuka finishing 47* after Nihar Parmar’s 43 had set things up.

Hiratsuka has also impressed with the ball, taking three wickets, all bowled, for 24 as Aakash Ghimire struck 56 in the highest score of the day.

That win meant the Turtles finished the day on top after a tight win over the Dragons in the morning. Batting first they managed 114 for eight in their first innings, with Ryuki Ozeki the top scorer with 24*.

The Dragons were happy at the enough at the break, with Kaisei Doggett taking three for 12 to keep the Turtles batters in check. However, Sajid Abdullah took key wickets in the chase, and despite 39 from Kazuma Kato-Stafford, Hiratsuka kept his nerve to bowling the final over to secure the win by six runs.

That start got even better in the afternoon as Hiratsuka struck a last-ball six to win the game against the Vipers in the afternoon.

It was a tough finish fir the Vipers who bounced back admirably after a heavy defeat in game one as Charlie Hinze took five wickets for just two runs as his Gorillas side dismissed the Vipers for just 61 and then knocked off the target in 11 overs to win by nine wickets.

The afternoon brought different fortunes for both the Dragons and the Gorillas however, with the former owing much to the all-round Kaisei Doggett who made 46 before taking three for seven to help his team to a 32-run win over the two-time Champions in a match that also featured a 47-ball 52* from Kazuma Kato-Stafford.

Match Summaries:

• 19th April (Saturday) 10:30 – Turtles vs Dragons (Turtles won by 6 runs)
• 19th April (Saturday) 10:30 – Gorillas vs Vipers (Gorillas won by 9 wickets)
• 19th April (Saturday) 14:30 – Dragons vs Gorillas (Dragons won by 32 runs)
• 19th April (Saturday) 14:30 – Turtles vs Vipers (Turtles won by 7 wickets)

Highlights:

Dragons vs Turtles

Dragons vs Gorillas