A rampant Vijay have thrown down the gauntlet at the start of the 2004 season, handing Mahe Kings an early thrashing in their first match in the Mike Holmes Memorial Tournament.

The two sides squared up last Sunday at Freedom Square, the first action for both sets of players after the closed season, in what proved to be a one-sided contest.

Captained by Craig Hall, Mahe Kings were sent in to bat after Vijay skipper Patrick Thomas won the toss.

The batting was opened by Hall and national team captain Ramesh Venkateshwaralu, but the Vijay strike bowlers, in the form of Vasudev Varasani and Kaushal Patel, gave them no time to settle.

Hall was dismissed for 1, setting the tone for the rest of the innings.

With his teammates' wickets falling quickly at the other end, the experienced Ramesh held on to his wicket and tried to take the attack to Vijay, but was stopped after a sold 17, the right arm of Arvind Bhuva proving too quick for him with a beautiful direct hit on the stumps from the boundary rope, as Ramesh tried to poach an extra run.

Despite fielding a side of recognised run makers, the rest of the 'Kings' line-up failed to reach double figures, in an innings which included four ducks, and only made 46 runs.

Economical top end figures of 1 for 11 were picked up by both Varasani and Patel, but it was Jaijith Nair's 4 for 9 and Bhuva's 3 for 9, that obliterated the batsmen.

The response by Vijay was short and sweet.

National team players Kaushal Patel and Krishna Naidu teamed up to chase the low total and set about their task immediately.

Patel allowed the younger man to do the majority of the work, settling for an unbeaten 15, while Naidu ploughed into the bowlers to hit 25 not out, by the time the two batsmen reached the winning total of 47 without loss.

Vijay comfortably took the match and the man-of-the-match award was claimed by Jaijith Nair for his attacking bowling.

The next match, to be played on Sunday morning at Freedom Square, will see the newly formed USAIM (University of Seychelles American Institute of Medicine) make their debut against a Supercats side buoyed by a win over Luckstars in their last outing.