A week ago this column wrote about the impressive depth in the Chiba Sharks team, so this week the same club decided to rest even more senior players and field a team with seven players aged 21 or under. The result was a 181-run win over bottom club Paddy Foleys.

Batting first after winning the toss at Sano Three, the innings of 273/9 was built on a 133 opening stand by Captain Dhugal Bedingfield and the Mian Siddique, one of three Chiba My-Ys players selected in the Japan National Squad for 2016.

Bedingfield was highly assured and kept his rookie partner calm while compiling 76 from just 64 deliveries, but his dismissal led to a mini collapse with Sharks losing four for 36, including Siddique for a patient 47.

The scoreboard kept ticking over, Nick Reynolds following up his impressive debut last week with 35 from 23 while Kurumi Ota, also on debut for the 1^st XI and playing her last game before heading off to Samoa for the regional World Cup Qualifier, marshalled the tail to take the team to 273/9, the 4^th highest of the season so far in Division One.

The chase, like so many of Paddy’s batting efforts this season, started badly and never recovered. A defiant 44 at the top by Ashiq Hussain was all they had to show as seven different Sharks bowlers took a bite out of their innings, with Siddique the pick of them collecting 3/6 from his four overs.

As Paddy’s slumped to 93 all out, the result establishes both teams at the opposite ends of the table. While Sharks have all but guaranteed a semi-final berth, Paddy’s are yet to get into the black in terms of points after an early deduction leaves them on -0.5 for the season.

Back to back wins for Sharks and back to back matches rained off for the Tokyo Wombats have had a significant impact at the top of the table as their match against 3^rd place Tigers fell foul of the rainy season.

With Sano taking a break this week, Wyverns and MAX came up against each other in a fixture Wyverns needed to win as a reversal would leave their semi-final hopes teetering on the brink.

Spirits were raised in the Wyverns camp as they welcomed back Naotsune “Bebe” Miyaji after he opted to take a break from the game this season.

It was MAX who won the toss and batted first, with wickets being spread around with two each for Shodai Yamada, Junmei Haneda, Tomoki Ota and Raheel Kano as MAX were dismissed for 133 in just 36 overs, Amigo Kobayashi top scoring with a fairly meagre 22 before giving Miyaji a wicket on his return.

Wyverns chase did not start well as their openers managed just a single run between them, but Ota and Miyaji pulled it back to 40/2 before trouble returned. Spin twins Vinay Iyer (4/16) and Makoto Taniyama (3/15) caused the problems on a slow deck at Sano International Cricket Ground as wickets tumbled very suddenly, Wyverns losing 8/28 in no time at all to earn MAX a 65-run win plus a valuable bonus point

That point pushes MAX above Sano and into fourth place and placing big importance on their match against third placed Tigers in Round 11 on July 23^rd.

The Chiba Sharks have long been admired for their junior programs and smart recruitment policy, and these were evident once more as their younger players stood up in a one-sided match against Sano Cricket Club.

Making their Sharks debuts were the Reynolds brothers, Nick and Dan, who reside in Australia but have played in Sharks Junior teams for a number of years, and it was Nick who made the decisive contribution.

Winning the toss and batting first Dhugal Bedingfield and the newly promoted Vivek Singh put on 53 for the first wicket, before six wickets fell for just 61 runs leaving them in a sticky patch.

Reynolds, coming in at 85/5, steadied the ship first in partnership with Yosuke Higashimoto and then with the youngest player in the current Japan squad, Marcus Thurgate. These two gave a glimpse of the future with a dynamic partnership of 63 in double quick time as Reynolds blasted 67 from just 50 deliveries and Thurgate a run-a-ball 28*.

Ultimately the Sharks were all out in just 33.5 overs, but a total of 211 always looked like a testing one for Sano, and it was a test they failed dismally. Vivek Singh, opening the bowling as well as the batting, dismissed their entire top four and finished with figures of 5/19 as Sano crumpled to 55 all out and a crushing defeat by 156 runs.

Another bonus point win for Sharks gives them breathing room at the top, while Sano, after an improvement in recent weeks, must now regather themselves as they aim to hang on for a top four finish and the play-offs.

The defeat for Sano opened the door for the Tigers to move into 3^rd place, and they proved up to the task with a battling win against Wyverns.

As the Sharks had done, Tigers won the toss and opted to bat; marching to 212/8 from their 40 overs. Tigers were heavily indebted to an innings of 93 from 89 balls from Sabaorish Ravichandran, who was able to cut loose after some initial tight new ball bowling from Satoshi Nakano (3/52) and Shodai Yamada (2/24).

Wyverns looked determined to take up the chase and despite some early wickets, Koji Iwasaki played a gem of an innings to keep them right in the hunt. Ably supported by Yoshi Uehara (30) he made his way to 79 from 67 before Manoj Bhardwaj got one through him.

That dismissal signified the end for Wyverns as their last six wickets fell for just 20 runs as Bhardwaj (4/35) destroyed the lower order, leaving them 182 all out as the Tigers earned a 30-run victory.

In the other fixture of Round Nine there was a setback for the Tokyo Wombats as their very winnable match against Paddy Foleys, due to be played at the Fuji grounds, became the first match of the season to fall foul of the weather, meaning the teams shared the points.

There will be a break from JCL fixtures this weekend but a full complement will take place on the 9/10^th July.

A good week for Wombats was ended with a comfortable win over Wyverns, thanks to yet another half century for Alex Patmore.

Wombats entered the match in positive mood after the news in the week that their defeat against MAX the previous weekend would be reversed due to the MAX team all arriving 30 minutes late for the game at Fuji and as such the JCL Committee ruled the game should be called a forfeit.

Patmore and Rasika Ethulgala put on 103 for the second wicket as Wombats batted first, but their dismissals at the hands of Raheel Kano precipitated a rapid collapse; losing their last nine wickets for just 52 runs.

A score of 186 all out would require some good bowling to defend, which is just what they produced as Wyverns were dismissed for just 100 in a mere 22 overs to secure an 86-run win which also earned Wombats a bonus point.

For MAX the week started badly and ended worse, as they were easily rolled over by Chiba Sharks. Missing their usual captain Makoto Taniyama, who inexplicably chose to play for his university instead, the team came up short in all departments.

Vinay Iyer batted gainfully for his 44 at the top of the order, but received little support and a total of just 99 from 29.2 overs always looked short. Dave Lollback was the star with the ball, picking up 4/15 in a rare bowling performance from the former captain.

The Sharks had few issues knocking the runs off as Dhugal Beddingfield and Paul Grant, the new opening partnership that has revitalised the Sharks batting, put on 74 for the first wicket before Tsuyoshi Takada (19* from 13) finished the chase off with a flurry of boundaries. A win by seven wickets also earned them a bonus point which keeps them on top of the table, level with the Tokyo Wombats.

In the final tie of the round between Sano and Tigers Cricket Clubs, it was Sano who came out comfortably on top to move up to third in the table as they start to build momentum after a slow start to the season.

Raj Pardan gave the outstanding performance, smashing 87* from just 80 deliveries coming in at number seven, to lift his side to 223/9 in their 40 overs. He followed that up with 3/22 from seven immaculate overs.

Tigers captain Ragesh Nair fought hard in the chase, scoring 47, but it was not enough as his team rolled over for 156 in 35.1 overs handing Sano a win by 67 runs.

Round Nine takes place on June 25th and will feature a bye for MAX to give them time to recover from a bad week, while Sano take on the Sharks at Sano 3, Wombats face Paddy Foleys at Fuji and Tigers take on Wyverns at the Sano International Cricket Ground.