In a low-scoring week of fixtures in the Japan Cricket League Division One, the Tokyo Wombats and Chiba Sharks both made it two wins from two while the Tigers grabbed their first win in the top tier.

For the second match in succession the Wombats had a huge opening stand to aid their charge as Alex Patmore (77) this time combined with Mick Lay (57) to put on 165. What remained of the 215 target set by Paddy Foley’s in their first outing of the season was comfortably kocked off with seven wickets to spare. Paddy’s were restricted in their efforts to set a testing score thanks to Vikram Ragunathan (4/43) and Raskia Ethugala (5/31) sharing nine wickets between them.

In a tense affair at Tanuma the Chiba Sharks inflicted a painful defeat on Sano Cricket Club, defending a score of just 125. Eight miserly overs from Tsuyoshi Takada (2/19) and captain Paul Grant grabbing 4/24 meant Sano fell 30 runs short of a second win in a row and the Sharks earn a Bonus Point.

Much like the Sharks, the Tigers were also able to defend a low score in beating Wyverns Cricket Club by 25 runs. The bowling performance of the week came from big-name transfer Raheel Kano as he grabbed 5/12 in his seven overs, but the batters were unable to back that up, slumping to 119 all out.

The next round of matches will take place over the coming two weekends as the Sharks aim to make it three wins from three against the winless Wyverns, the Tigers will clash with Paddy Foleys and MAX are back in action against Sano following their bye this week.

In Division Two the first round is now complete as Adore took Sano 2^nd XI apart by 122 runs. Bhutto Umair led the assault and repeated his century against the same opposition last season in crashing 144 from 116 balls, ably assisted by Shinpei Hagiwara (94 from 67). Adore kept Sano to just 171 in response, 49 from Mai Yanagida, on debut for Sano, the only resistance.

In the final match Paddy Foley’s 2^nd XI were victorious against Tigers 2^nd XI by a narrow margin of just eight runs. Defending 222 after runs from Fernando Wewalagamage (66) and Uddika Pradeep (44), it was the bowling of Pradeep (3/21) that enabled Paddys to fend off the Tigers despite 82* from Anil Kumar.

Round Two will also be played over the final two weekends of April.

The Japan Cricket League Division One and Division Two began on the first weekend in April with the sakura in full bloom.

It was the Chiba Sharks who had the most productive weekend with both their 1^st XI and 2^nd XI returning to home victorious with wins over Max CC and Wyverns respectively.

In the 14-run win over defending Champions Max CC it was Dhugal Bedingfield who ruined Makoto Taniyama’s first match as captain with a 95-ball hundred and three wickets. He was ably supported by Paul Grant (4/41) and Varun Sanchetti (33).

Elsewhere in Division One the Tokyo Wombats prevailed by two wickets in a tight contest against Wyverns 1^st XI. After a poor start, Tomoki Ota (51) and Kazuyuki Ogawa (39) steadied things enabling Wyverns to set a target of 210. The Wombats opening pair of Jarrad Shearer (67) and Alex Patmore (48) got their team off to a great start with 93 on the board before a late tumble of wickets set up a tight finale.

In the final match Sano CC registered a comfortable win over newly promoted Tigers, their 278/7 underpinned by a fine 111 from Rashid Rana and 64 from Chathura Aravinda while Tigers struggled to deal with the bowling of Prabath Sankalpa as his 6/15 helped dismiss the Tigers for just 125.

Division Two featured one match between the second XIs from Chiba and Wyverns, with Sharks two wins over the weekend in sharp contrast to Wyverns two defeats. Runs from Tsuyoshi Takada (39) helped the Sharks to a total of 221 in their 40 overs and ultimately a comfortable win by 44 runs as Wyverns were dismissed for 177 despite a battling 46* from Kensho Takahashi.

The next round of fixtures is due to be played in 16/17^th April in Division One while Round One of Division Two will be completed this coming weekend.