A century from Ben Lederman helped London Maccabi Vale 2nd make it two out of two as they overpowered Highgate Taverners at Rowley Lane.

Winning the toss, LMV chose to bat first. Nigel Rothband and Lederman opened the batting and both were swiftly into their stride, with the latter striking the ball very sweetly from the start. Rothband somehow managed to swat a full toss straight to the only fielder on the leg-side boundary and was out for 14. Jeff Permutt came in and he and Lederman put on a rapid 59 with Ben reaching his 50 in quick time.

Permutt (18) was caught which brought in Dan Caplan, and the scoring really accelerated as Lederman and Caplan put on 68 in under seven overs. Caplan was caught for a rapid 34, but Lederman continued on and reached his maiden 100, having raced through the 80's and 90's with a succession of boundaries. A great effort, played excellent shots all round the ground and timed the ball exceptionally well on a slow low surface.

Lederman was well caught shortly after that and it was left to Aviel Schwarz to hit a quick 27 n.o. to take LMV to a score of 246.

In reply Taverners were soon in trouble as the 'Jerusalem Express' Saul Weitzman took two early wickets. A good partnership followed, but at a slow pace. Tidy spells from Andy Landesberg (1-38) and Michael Ziff (0-27) put Taverners well behind the asking rate. With veteran Lederman Snr (3-15) ensuring that there was no acceleration, Weitzman (3-18), Jonathan Freedman (1-31) and Ben Lederman (1-5) to finish things off.

A good win against modest opposition. Congratulations to Ben on a personal milestone.

Next week the league starts and LMV are under no illusions how much a tougher test that is going to be, but meanwhile two wins out of two is a great start to the season.

LMVCC 2nd XI 246-5 beat Highgate Taverners 162 all out by 84 runs