Highlights of the fifth week
Blow for Hafnarfjörður as Dushan Bandara sustains hand injury
Reykjavík squeak past Kópavogur in bowler-dominated game
Nolan Williams notches Icelandic career-best innings
Prabhath Weerasooriya bowls brilliantly on comeback from injury
David Cook registers Kópavogur's best bowling figures by a spinner
Whole-team batting performance sees Vesturbær pass 150 for first time
Tariq Mehmood's 4 for 40 sets new bowling record for Hafnarfjörður
Tajdar Khan makes his first half-century in Iceland
Four wickets for Ramachandran Gujapan take Vesturbær to victory
Kópavogur v Reykjavík
Kópavogur 113 for 9 (20 overs) Nolan Williams 46 Prabhath Weerasooriya 2—11
Reykjavík 117 for 7 (17.3 overs) Derick Deonarain 44 David Cook 4—29
Reykjavík won by three wickets Full scorecard
A disastrous start for the Puffins, on winning the toss, saw them slide to 34 for 5 in the face of sustained penetration from Sadun Lankathilaka and Lakmal Bandara. But Nolan Williams, having scored at a strike rate of 200 in Wednesday's Shootout game, adapted brilliantly to the situation and carefully set about accumulation. It was difficult, as Prabhath Weeasooriya got through his entire spell conceding a mere 11 runs, but as the second-string bowlers game on, runs finally came. Williams batted through most of the innings for 46, his highest score in Iceland, and agonisingly close to a first half-century. A late flourish from Abhi Chauhan put the total over the 100 mark, and into competitive territory. Much hinged on Derick Deonarain, of course, and he rapidly found himself obliged to play a Williams-esque role as he lost partners regularly. Jegadeesh Subramaniyam took yet more wickets, but the chief destroyer was David Cook, who tore through the Vikings' hapless middle order. When Deonarain finally went, and seven wickets were down, Kópavogur could have been forgiving they had a chance. But Lakmal Bandara and Prabhath Weerasooriya are not the batsmen you want to be confronted with at such a stage, and they calmly and inevitably knocked off the runs.
Hafnarfjörður v Vesturbær
Vesturbær 153 all out (19.2 overs) Kathir Narayanan 22 Tariq Mehmood 4—40
Hafnarfjörður 137 all out (19.2 overs) Tajdar Khan 59 Ramachandran Gujapan 4—17
Vesturbær won 16 runs Full scorecard
Vesturbær recorded the second victory of their short existence to move off the bottom and into second place. Electing to bat, they set about compiling rather than blasting, with six batsmen reaching double figures but none passing 22. These efforts, largely achieved at quicker than a run a ball, were aided by 33 wides from a highly indisciplined Hafnarfjörður attack. The pick of the bowlers was Tariq Mehmood, whose 4 for 40 set a new record for the Hammers, but Tajdar Khan conceded only 5 runs in 12 balls and was unaccountably recalled to bowl his outstanding two overs. Hafnarfjörður, confronted with an intimidating total, were on the back foot before they even started batting. Their talismanic all-rounder, and Iceland's supreme batsman, Dushan Bandara had sustained severe lacerations to his hand in a domestic accident and will be out of action for several weeks. Much responsibility then fell to Chamley Fernando, but he was superbly caught by Ramji Navapara at square leg from the second ball of the innings. The Hammers just collapsed. The counter-punch came from Tajdar Khan, who scored 59 from 39 balls and genuinely appeared to threaten the target. He was foiled, though, in the midst of a highly incisive spell from Ramachandran Gujapan, who registered the Volcano's first four-wicket haul in closing the innings swiftly.
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