The Vipers won two nail-biters on the first day of Futures League III, and will have high hopes of making their first final.

Coach Reo Sakurano-Thomas had words of warning for his group however, reminding them that they were in this same position two years ago and still ended up with the wooden spoon.

In the morning they successfully chased a target of 116 against defending champions Gorillas, sneaking home with two wickets and two balls to spare, captain Charlie Hinze taking home the MVP aware for his four wickets for 17 runs.

In the afternoon Kazumasa Hiratsuka was the hero as his bowling changed turned the game in their favour after the Dragons looked set to comfortably chase down a target of 131.

With the score 102 for two after 14 overs and Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake on a half-century, the Vipers took seven for 21 in the remaining 36 balls to win the game by seven runs with Hiratsuka taking three for 14 and effecting a run out.

In the other games of the day, former champions Turtles and Gorillas each finished with a win apiece. The Gorillas have never failed to make the final, and they bounced back from their morning defeat to the Vipers thanks to a virtuoso performance from captain Nikhil Pol.

Opening the batting, Pol made a run-a-ball 39 as his team ended the first innings on 167 for two, before his five for 15 with the ball had the Turtles in disarray.

It was credit to the team in green that they got as close as they did, captain Kazuma Kato-Stafford striking 44 from 25 balls to help his team to 159 for nine, falling short by just eight runs.

Kato-Stafford had starred in the morning game for the Turtles, as they defeated the Dragons by four wickets in a low-scoring affair thanks to his 34 breaking the back of the chase.

The action returns on Day Two, don’t forget to tune into the JCA YouTube Channel, or Fancode in the Indian Subcontinent, to catch all the action.

Match Summaries: 

• Turtles, 93/6 (Kato-Stafford 34, Rear 29*), beat Dragons, 92/7 (L. Yamamoto-Lake 30) by four wickets.
• Vipers, 116/8 (Hardgrave-Abe 24, Ball 3/14), beat Gorillas, 115/8 (Panckhurst 24*, C. Hinze 4/17) by 2 wickets.
• Vipers, 130/9 (Hardgrave-Abe 41, S. Hiratsuka 3/24), beat Dragons, 123/8 (L. Yamamoto-Lake 50, K. Hiratsuka 3/14), by 7 runs.
• Gorillas, 167/2 (Pol 39, Suzuki-McComb 35*, Ghimire 34*), beat Turtles, 159/9 (Kato-Stafford 44, Thurgate 39, Pol 5/15, Moore 3/32) by 8 runs.

Highlights: 

Turtles vs Dragons

Turtles vs Gorillas