Building up to the finals
South Caulfield “was definitely the biggest test so far for me as a captain, and we came out on top thanks to some incredibly clutch performances from a group of our players,” says Ben Kupshik.
After last Sunday’s penultimate round of the Melbourne Cricket Club season, Maccabi-AJAX’s first and second XIs both remain on top of the division 2 and 4 ladders.
Their firsts side enjoyed a dominant 127-run win over last-placed Caulfield Grammarians, reaching 5/180 batting first.
Opener Nick Gross top-scored with 49, Benji Gore and Ari Fell both made 40, and Josh Jones finished not out on 23.
Caulfield Grammarians’ batting line-up was no match for a bowling unit that consistently put the ball in good areas, building pressure.
They were all out for just 53 runs in the 22nd over, with captain Bailey Melzak and Noah Goldberg bagging three wickets each, and Amir Meyerowitz two.
In division 4, Maccabi-AJAX bowler Ben Kupshik felt last Sunday’s match versus South Caulfield “was definitely the biggest test so far for me as a captain, and we came out on top thanks to some incredibly clutch performances from a group of our players”.
Bowling first after losing the toss, the Maccabi men struggled to contain their opponents to 2/106, “so to have them all out for 162 was an unbelievable effort”.
Kupshik’s eight-over spell produced three wickets for just 19 runs, and crucially he dismissed South Caulfield’s top-scorer, Oliver Bradley, when he was on 51 off 47 balls.
Simon Fisher and Gilad Meyerowitz claimed two wickets each, Shmuli Rosenbaum, Gideon Pastor and Devon Melzak took one wicket each, and the fielding was excellent throughout.
Opener Mendi Rosenbaum’s knock of 61 proved vital in the chase, as four wickets fell in quick succession, before an excellent 32 runs off 40 balls by Aidan Sheffield got Maccabi back into the game.
A three-wicket win was sealed with just two balls remaining, thanks to an unbeaten 23 runs off 13 balls by Shmuli Rosenbaum.
His team stayed in first position, just one point ahead of Old Trinity.
In the Mercantile Cricket Association’s competition, Maccabi-AJAX’s thirds team recorded a 106-run win over Carnegie in round 18 of 20 last Sunday, to remain first in D South grade by two points over Monash Uni.
Captain Zak Pollak scored 65 runs off 71 balls, and was only topped by Nadav Lowinger’s 66 runs off 44 balls, and a big target of 274 was set.
In reply, Carnegie only managed 6/168, with wickets claimed by five different Maccabi bowlers.
And in C South grade, seventh-placed Maccabi-AJAX’s development team followed up a great win the previous week with a disappointing six-wicket loss to Ashwood.
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