First victory for Melita

On Saturday, Marsa took on Melita in their second encounter of the first round of the Winter League.

On a cloudy day, Melita won the toss and elected to bat first.

Rory O'Brien opened with a 43 not out, hitting four 4s along the way. Alan Swift broke through early for the Marsa, bowling Mike Smith for five runs and Tony Slater for a golden duck (out facing first ball).

Tim Wheeler was brilliantly caught by Jeremy Dela diving to his right and taking the catch goalkeeper style. Sagar Krishna was also bowled for duck as Melita totalled 124 runs from their allotted 20 overs.

Marsa's innings was off to a bad start. Mike Caruana was almost bowled in the first ball of the innings from Zaheer. Sarfraz Ali was bowled off the second ball.

Jeya Krishna top-scored with 27 and Mike Caruana 26. Extras amounted to 18. However, Marsa were bowled out for 97 for Melita to win their first match in the league.

Melita had an inspiring bowling spell by Mike Smith. He took four wickets for 13 runs off four overs.

Standings: Krishna 19 points, Marsa 16, Melita 11.

January 7: Krishna vs Melita.