League Matches Underway
19.04.2010.
With cricket traditionally being a summer sport in Europe, in Croatia it remains mainly a spring and autumn sport due to the fact that a large percentage of our members are involved in the summer tourism industry. In general our season would run April to mid-June and then September to mid-November.
With a newly reconstructed league system, this doesn’t leave many free weekends. The Croatian Super League consists of home and away fixtures for the top three placed sides in the 2009 league competition, namely Hrvatski Sokol, Sir William Hoste and Sir Oliver. The Northern conference consists of 4 teams from Zagreb, while the southern conference consists of two teams from the island of Vis and two teams from Split and surrounds.
Super League: Hrvatski Sokol versus Sir William Hoste 17 April
Another trip down south for Sokol saw them take on Sir Oliver in Resnik, an area on the outskirts of Split.
Sokol Captain Craig Sinovich once again lost the toss and the northerners were sent into bat. Losing an early wicket, Zdenko Leko (22) and Jasen Butković (29) laid a solid foundation on which Sinovich (53) and his teammates could capitalise. However the middle order misfired due to some accurate bowling from Nikola Davidović (2-25) and Josip Škiljo (3-29). This saw Sokol bowled out for 166 in only 37 overs.
Sir Oliver Captain Ivan Bilić (29) led from the front while his counterparts tumbled around him. It was only with the help of Mate Jukić (20) which saw Sir Oliver reach a somewhat respectable 97 all out. Mr. Strike Rate, Jasen Butković (4-31) and Vivek Sharma (2-26) were the pick of the bowlers. They were ably supported in the field by Tony Grgurić, Ibad Faruqui and Vivek Sharma who each took excellent catches to dismiss dangerous looking oppostition batsmen, and Zdenko Leko did a fine job behind the stumps on an uneven wicket to limit the number of extras conceded.
Result: Hrvatski Sokol beat Sir Oliver by 69 runs.
Southern Conference: Lignjuni versus Pišikonti 18 April
In the local Vis derby at Pliško Polje, these unpronounceable teams from Vis and Komiža opened up the Southern Conference.
The Lignjuni batting first were confident as Craig Wear, last year’s batsman of the year, seemed settled at the crease until being dismissed for 28. It was only B.Sviličić (18) who managed to add the other double figures to a disappointing total of 72 all out. Lenko Marinković (3-8) and B.Sviličić (3-25) seemed to ensure their team a victory.
The Pišikonti, however were to be surprised by the team effort of their fellow islanders and were bowled out for a mere 65, with only Antonio Lipanović (22) bothering the bowling. Oliver Roki (2-2) was the pick of the bowlers in what was an all-round team effort.
Result: Lignjuni beat Pišikonti by 7 runs.
