WITH only three more matches in the round-robin stage of the Mike Holmes Tournament left to play, Supercats, USAIM and Vijay are tied on points at the top of the table.

Supercats stepped up to the top spot after a low-scoring tussle with Mahe Kings, which was dominated by the bowlers' use of the wayward bounce of the Stad Popiler wicket.

Batting first, the Supercats openers failed to counter the uneven bounce, Samson and Ananda both back in the stands with less than 10 on the board.

The day's stellar batting performance was put in by Sanjeev, partnered by the reliable Deepak, who between them knocked up the only solid run scoring passage of play.

Sanjeev crashed his way to 35, a cavalier attitude to the inconsistent bounce paying off, while Deepak chalked up 16 at the other end.

But when their wickets fell, the bowling floodgates opened and the next 6 wickets tumbled for a combined 10 runs.

At the close of the innings, after 24 overs, Supercats were glad of the 24 extras which pushed their total up to 93.

Of the Kings' bowlers, Hari, John and Vijay Limda had put in solid performances to claim 3 for 16, 3 for 21 and 2 for 7 respectively

Having seen how their bowlers had capitalised on the haphazard pitch, the Kings' batsmen knew they would struggle to score on the uneven surface, but even the advance warning failed to help them against an in-form Arup Das.

Usually reliable openers Hall and Ramesh were out for 11 and only Jimmy Joseph was able to make double figures, in at number 4 his 15 the highlight of a fast fading innings.

Das was unstoppable, ending the day with a man-of-the-match award-winning 5 for 8 and trapping John LBW to end the Kings' innings still floundering on 57.

Taking two spectacular catches, deep on the boundary rope, Das' almost one-man show had been complimented by 2 for 10 by Deepak, 1 for 13 by Deva and 1 for 15 by Hitesh.

Mukesh to face the music

The following week, Supercats were joined in top spot by USAIM, after a similarly bowler-dominated win over Luckstars, during which the man-of-the-match, Mukesh, set himself up to appear before a Seychelles Cricket Association disciplinary panel.

Batting first, USAIM were reliant on Abhishek and Abhishek in the top order, who hit 10 and 27 for the early runs, and a later 10 from Nirag to set a competitive target. Mukesh chipped in with 7, but refused to walk when given out. After having to be restrained from fighting with the opposition by his teammates, he is now likely to face a lengthy ban.

The unpredictability of the bounce, however, forced the Luckstars bowlers to search for the right line and length, conceding 35 extras in the process, and helped USAIM to a near respectable 90 all out.

Keeping the batsmen honest, Tim claimed 3 for 14, Chandre 3 for 23 and Suranga 2 for 10.

The Luckstars reply faltered early on as the first 5 wickets fell before 10 runs had been scored. Thusitha managed to hit a solid 14 and Suranga 13, but with ball in hand, Mukesh was proving his worth to USAIM. Despite a hefty 32 extras, Luckstars were soon all out for 71, handing USAIM the 19-run victory that put them in joint first place.

The next match in the series is a clash between USAIM and Mahe Kings, affording the students the chance to get ahead of the pack, and the Kings the chance to get back into the race.

M. H.