As the rest of Japan turned their thoughts to the Golden Week holiday, four teams locked horns in JCL Division One to see who could close the gap on Chiba Sharks at the top of the table.<\/p>\n
The Sharks had comfortably beaten Wyverns<\/a> in the first match of the round a week previously, recovering\u00a0from 45\/5 as fine 59 from\u00a0Higashimoto helped them to a score of\u00a0227, before dismissing the Wyverns for a mere 165. Wickets were spread around with Matsumura (2\/26) doing the damage at the top of the order, including a stunning return catch off his own bowling.<\/p>\n With the Sharks maintaining their 100% start to the season and the Wombats sitting out the round, it was left to the rest to take up the charge and so all eyes turned to the clash between two traditional powerhouses of the JCL in MAX and Sano.<\/p>\n In the closest match of the round, it was Sano who edged a thrilling contest by just six runs<\/a> at the Watarase River Ground 3. \u00a0Left to defend a lowly 137 after a fairly timid batting performance, Sano summoned great strength to mop up MAX for just 131.\u00a0Despite a second consecutive half-century\u00a0from Iyer (58) at the top of the order, nobody else could handle\u00a0Destroyer-in-Chief\u00a0Sankalpa as his\u00a04\/28 moved\u00a0him to the top of the wicket-takers list for the season so far.<\/p>\n Just down the road the final tie of the round was also taking shape, as the Tigers continued their recent form with a comfortable win over Paddy Foley\u2019s by 80 runs<\/a>, meaning all three defeated teams in the round remain without a win this season.<\/p>\n The Tigers had Balasubramania (71) and captain Ragesh Nair (55) to thank for their score of 231 all out while Nair was also among the wickets with 3\/21 in tandem with a clinical performance by Imtiaz Khan who\u00a0claimed 5\/32 as Tigers strode up to 2nd<\/sup> in the table.<\/p>\n As the Sharks take a breather this weekend, it will down to the rest to close the gap, while winless Paddy Foley\u2019s and Wyverns will come together in a game where someone will register their first points.<\/p>\n In Division Two Paddy\u2019s are having a much better time with two wins from two after a comfortable beating of Sano 2nd<\/sup> XI by 136 runs<\/a>. After posting 213 courtesy of a run-a-ball 71 from Wewalagamage, despite the best efforts of Mai Yanagida (4\/47), Sano offered little resistance in being dismissed for 77.<\/p>\n