Slovenians Mezica no match for Marsa

Over the weekend, Marsa CC entertained the first touring team of 2009, Mezica, of Slovenia, here on their second tour.

Mezica's previous visit was just four months ago where the home team won the series 2-0.

On Saturday, the Marsa team won the toss and elected to bat first. Tim Edwards and Chris Naudi opened the innings and both batsmen scored 12 runs each before being caught out. Angelo Spiteri top-scored for the local side with 49 runs while Andy Lenard hit 37 and Joy Ghoseroy 30. Kevin Krishna was 19 not out as Marsa totalled 200 runs from their allotted overs.

Tomaz Prevoric was the main wicket-taker for Mezica with two wickets.

In reply, the visitors toiled hard but never got going against the bowling of Dave Newton who felled four wickets. Primoz Pustoslemsek was the Slovenian team's main run-maker with a 44 as the visitors only managed 101 runs.

The hosts again batted first on Sunday. Mark G. Sacco opened the innings and scored 45. His brother, Ronnie, managed to outscore him by one run. Sarfraz Ali added 31 as the home side bettered their previous day's score and made 220.

Jun Bonica and Tomaz Brumen were the leading wicket-takers with two each.

Mezica also bettered their score on Saturday but their effort was still not enough to beat the home side. They amassed 117 runs, Ales Pustoslemsek hitting 59 points.

Marsa again won the series 2-0.

On Saturday, Marsa CC play against the HMS Bulwark team and a three-ship combined selection on Sunday.