Cricket: South Africa completes the double over Great Britain

By STEVEN SHEIN
South Africa proved its superiority in the second day of cricket action on Tuesday, defeating Great Britain twice in both the Open and Junior competitions. The South Africans, defending champions and strong favorites for gold in both events, won both matches relatively easily with the seniors winning by 48 runs and the juniors by nine 9 wickets. Batting first in Lod, SA seniors were in trouble at 27 for three and then 50 for 5, but Daniel Grusd (47) and Adam Bacher (36) dug their side out of trouble to reach 186. David Lever then took for 5 for 29 as GB were dismissed for 138 in reply, with Darren Gerrard scoring 45. History was made at the junior game, with Kibbutz Gezer hosting a Maccabiah cricket match for the first time. GB got off to a decent start but then slumped from 30 for one to 80 all out against tight SA bowling. Leg spinner Adam Masarow took 4 for 18 and medium pacer Ryan Krug grabbed 4 for 7. SA then proved batting was not that difficult on the newly laid wicket, easing to their target in 19.5 overs for the loss of just one wicket with Jordan Bortz (24*) and Matthew Garrun (21*) finishing off the job after Anthony Mofsowitz was dismissed for 26. Israel and Australia will both be looking to bounce back from opening day defeats when they meet in Lod on Wednesday, whilst SA juniors return to Gezer to meet Israel.