Tokyo Falcons brought a crushing end to the Tigers unbeaten record which dated back to the 2019 Semi Final in glorious sunshine at the SICG. 

Abhi Telang was the hero for the Falcons, first crashing 25 off 19 balls in a last wicket stand of 34 to lift his team to 159 all out, before striking three times in his first four overs to derail the Tigers chase. 

Falcons had five batters pass 20 but only Ankur Mehrotra made it to 30 as six different Tigers bowlers chipped in with wickets to keep the target at a manageable level. 

While Telang certainly cracked the door ajar, it was Mehrotra again who barged through it, taking three for 11 to complement Telang’s four for 31 as Tigers, despite a stubborn 48 from Anil Kumar, were bowled all out for just 120 to give Falcons the win by 39 runs. 

Rising Stars seem to be following in the footsteps of the Falcons, after a winless first season in Division One they have now registered back-to-back victories after seeing off a disappointing Wyverns.  

Batting first Udaibus Sayeed went berserk, hammering five maximums in a 46-ball 75 as the Rising Stars registered 239 all out in 38 overs; Raheel Kano with three for 48 the best return for the Wyverns bowlers. 

Wyverns needed a player to take control of the chase but a highest individual score of 32 by Shogo Kimura was not enough. Abuhasnat Alam picked up four for 32 to bowl the Wyverns all out for 192 and give the RIsing Stars victory by 48 runs. 

Chiba Sharks are having an up and down season, but they will be thrilled to be sitting third in the table after pulling off a victory that looked fairly unlikely at one stage. Batting first they  were once again inspired by young Ibrahim Takahashi, who continued his bid for most improved player by scoring an outstanding 86 against a Sano CC attack full of variation. 

Takahashi was well supported by Tsuyoshi Takada (42) as the pair put on 110 in 16 overs before Sano came back to take four wickets in the last three overs as Sharks finished 226/9 after 40 overs, Shameera Pathum (three for 36) the pick of the Sano bowlers.  

Sano then started the chase brilliantly, reaching 128-2 in the 17th over and leaving the Sharks not knowing where to turn. In the end it was Neel Date who swung the game in their favour, breaking a 65 run stand between Musashi Yamamoto (59) and Naotsune Miyaji (23) dismissing both and grabbing a third for good measure for just 12 runs. That collapse led to Sharks running through the Sano middle and lower order, eventually dismissing the home team for 162 inside 27 overs to win by 64 runs with a bonus point. 

MAX CC had no such dramas and continued to blow away everyone in their path. Alpha Quashers were the latest victims, bowled all out for just 106, with six MAX bowlers among the wickets. The target was then blitzed in just 11.2 overs as Hanif Niazi (37*) and Vinay Iyer (29*) took the league leaders home with eight wickets to spare. 

Photo: Takuro Hagihara

A special thanks as always goes to the JCL Umpire Panel who were as follows:

• MAX CC vs Alpha Quashers: Amit Phadke & Abhipray Dewan
• Tigers CC vs Tokyo Falcons: Natarajan Dhakshinamoorthy & Prashant Kale
• Rising Stars vs Wyverns CC: Kris Bayne & Mihindu Perera
• Sano CC vs Chiba Sharks: Prashant Kale & Jason Fouracres

There will be a break from the JCL this weekend as the Japan Premier League takes centre stage, but will return in force the weekend after. 

Just two matches were possible in Round Seven of JCL Division One as the rainy season decided to wreak it’s usual havoc during July. 

It was time enough however for MAX CC to continue their 100% start to the season, although they were given quite a scare by the improving Rising Stars. 

The match initially looked like it would go to form as MAX ran through the Rising Stars batting order with just Ruhul Kabir (34) staying at the crease for any length of time. 

Bhanuka Ranathunga did the early damage with three wickets for just four runs before Vinay Iyer shot to the top of the wicket-taking charts for the season so far as he grabbed five for 32 to dismiss Rising Stars for just 109. 

The MAX tradition has always been to pack their batting so the target looked nominal, especially as skipper Supun Nawarathna slammed four sixes in his 35 from 20 balls. 

Rising Stars stuck at it however and a couple of wickets apiece for Abuhasnat Alam and Arman Bhuiyan had MAX reeling at seven down and just 96 on the board. 

The calm presence of veteran Masaomi Kobayashi (20*) was enough however, as he combined with some happy swinging by Kakeru Ebisui (13*) to take MAX home with three wickets to spare. 

Photo: Takuro
Hagihara

The only other game to yield a result was Alpha Quashers against Wyverns with the latter suffering from wretched form and luck this season. Batting first the Quashers made a competitive 219/9 from their overs, Nirmal Prasaath whacking 63 while Nandha Rangasamy (39*) and Raman Tanwar (30*) adding 77 in 12 overs for the eighth wicket, perhaps helped by Wyverns bowling their wicketkeeper for six overs. 

Raheel Kano (four for 28) and Kohei Kubota (three for 38) would have felt the score should have been lower given their efforts, and given what transpired they would be right to feel a little aggrieved. 

Kano is the form player in the JCL right now and while he was compiling a third fifty in succession there was hope for Wyverns, but as the skies overhead darkened, so did Wyverns chances. 

Kano fell for 52 but Takuya Ono (26 from 19 balls) pushed Wyverns within touching distance of the DLS target, but his dismissal pushed that mark beyond them and when the storm came to end the match Wyverns were just ten runs short. 

Gurman Singh was the star with the ball for AQCC, and is the leading wicket-taker among seamers this season as his four for 23 did the damage at the top of the order. 

Photo: Takuro
Hagihara

Thanks goes to the umpires for these matches as always: 

• MAX CC vs Rising Stars: Shrikhanth Durairaj  & Jason Fouracres
• Alpha Quashers vs Wyverns CC: Chris Thurgate & Amit Phadke

Round Eight will be played this weekend over two days at the Sano International Cricket Ground with matches being live streamed each day.

Cricket returned on Saturday 26th June and we now have to face the fact that our reports are going to look all out of order as rescheduling gives everything a slightly skewed look. Huge credit must be given to those behind the scenes making sure no matches have been lost in the JCL due to the two-month pause in activities. 

Teams seem to have responded in different ways to the break in play, and nowhere was that more evident than at the SICG where MAX Cricket Club continued their impressive start to the 2021 by impaling the Chiba Sharks. 

With a crowd hoping for a close contest, MAX simply blew the Sharks away from the off as Takuro Hagihara (3 for 14) and Dinesh Sanaruwan (3 for 13) ran amok. MAX took all ten Sharks wickets in just 18.4 overs and mustered just 66 runs in a display that will leave them reeling. 

MAX were never troubled by such a meagre total, chasing the target in just 10.2 overs with Supun Nawarathna unbeaten on 27* as his team wrapped up an eight-wicket win. 

On the same day at the Fuji Grounds, the Rising Stars had much to celebrate as they earned their first ever win in Division One. They did not have it easy though, twice in trouble against the Tokyo Wombats and indebted to a couple of partnerships to haul them to respectability. 

Firstly a 20-ball 49 from Ubaidus Sayeed, which included five 6s, dragged the Rising Stars out of the mire of 29/4 to 83/5, before Rakibul Hasan (41*) and Hossain Riaz (17) added 58 for the ninth wicket before the miserly Muhammed Ali (2 for 8) finished things off. Chelsea Moscript was again among the wickets for the Wombats, 3 for 44, but a score of 158 all out gave the Rising Stars something to bowl at. 

The Wombats made a reasonable start in the chase, despite Jarrad Shearer having to be helped off the field with a suspected torn calf muscle, and with 66 on the board without further damage the Rising Stars would have feared the worst. The introduction of Abu Hasnat Alam changed all that as he dismissed four of the top five including a set Alex Patmore (28) and Muhammad Ali (22). 

Alam’s 4 for 18 from eight overs sent the Wombats into freefall and despite some dogged  resistance lower down it was the Rising Stars who took the honours in a 45-run win.

Back at the SICG it was Wyverns who came out on top in a tussle with Men in Blue, thanks largely to 65 from Raheel Kano which helped his team to 240/7 from their 40 overs. 

MIB had faith while Abhi Dewan (42) and Ankit Panwar (43) were adding 90 for the third wicket, but once that partnership was broken Wyverns ripped through the last eight wickets for 42 runs with just one other batter making double figures. Kohei Kubota was the star with the ball, his pace and bounce helping him to figures of 4 for 34 as MIB were all out for 154 giving Wyverns a hefty win by 86 runs. 

Played a week later and lucky to escape the rain, Alpha Quashers Yokohama and Tigers CC met in a replay of the 2020 Grand Final, and although the result was the same there were scares aplenty for the defending champions. 

Gurman Singh wreaked havoc with the new ball, taking 3 for 25 before Preetham Prakasha wrapped up the Tigers’ tail with 4 for 33. In between then the Tigers were indebted to 58 from Urminder Singh, batting at number 8, which propelled his team from 70/5 at one stage, to 191 all out

Vikas Jha then starred for Tigers with the ball, his 4 for 15 making sure the Quashers chase never really got going; Tigers vanquishing their rivals for just 111 in 36.1 overs to win by 80 runs and maintain their 100% start to the season. 

Thanks again to the umpires who stood in all the matches, they are listed below: 

• Tokyo Wombats vs Rising Stars: Robert Newman & Prathick Kulothungan
• Wyverns CC vs Men In Blue: Chris Thurgate & Mihindu Perera
• Chiba Sharks vs MAX CC: Prashant Kale & Jayaram Nagarajan
• Tigers CC vs Alpha Quashers CC: Kris Bayne & Chris Thurgate

Player of June… Not many options this month as we had limited matches to pick from.  Raheel Kano did make most of his single game in June by scoring 65 and taking 2 wickets. Congratulations Raheel!

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