Sunday 25 March

Match 1: Warwickshire Bears maul Kent & Surrey in Festival opener

Warwickshire 77 for 1 off 15.3 overs (R.Cooper 33*; D.Gardner 1-3, R.Wickson 1-15) defeated Kent & Surrey 76 for 5 off 25 overs (P.Meyers 34*).

In a match reduced to 25 overs due to early morning rain, Warwickshire opened the Festival in style with a comprehensive win against Kent & Surrey by 9 wickets. They lost wickets at regular intervals and never recovered after being 8 for 2 from their first five overs. Peter Meyers held the innings together with a brave 34 not out as Kent & Surrey reached the below average score of 76 for 5. For   Warwickshire, Duncan Gardner, Howard Clay and Roger Wickson all captured a wicket apiece.

In reply, Warwickshire made easy work of their target, reaching 77 for 1 with nearly 10 overs to spare. Opener Richard Cooper batted through with 33 not out, while he was well supported by Neil Spragg (20) and Duncan Gardner (19 not out).

Player of the Match: Duncan Gardner.

Umpires: Stuart Chilmaid and Keith Boyall
Scorer: Eric Balakrishnan

Match 2: Yorkshire Ridings win a match dominated by batting

Yorkshire Ridings 165 for 2 off 27.3 overs (G.Orrell 54*, N.Allen 51, D.Fairbank 44*; M.Wheeler 1-22, N.Green 1-31) defeated Essex 164 for 0 off 30 overs (P.Wakefield 87*, S.Sood 71*).

A brilliant unbeaten 164 run partnership between Essex openers Paul Wakefield (87*) and Sanjeev Sood (71*) proved to be in vain as Yorkshire Ridings coasted to victory with 15 balls to spare. The Essex pair increased the run rate throughout the innings and withstood some very tight bowling early on by Ridings' Tony Evans, Andy Mackie and Derek Chapman. In reply, Riding's recovered from the early loss of Alan Lees with Neville Alan and Dave Fairbank contributing 58 for the second wicket. Gary Orrell joined Alan and together they put on an unbeaten 88 runs to seal the win for the Yorkshiremen.

Player of the Match: Paul Wakefield

Umpires: Joy Ghoseroy and Barry Toombs
Scorer: Eric Balakrishnan

Monday 26 March

Match 3: Berkshire beat Kent & Surrey in a canter

Berkshire 61 for 0 (D.Tooze 21*; D.Townsin 18*) defeated Kent & Surrey 57 for 6 (G.Moir 20).

After an early downpour reduced the first match to 28 overs, Kent & Surrey captain Neil Richards won the toss and elected to bat first. Unfortunately, they continued where they left off a day before as they stumbled through their allotted overs to reach the dismal total of 57 for 6. For Berkshire, Andy Brown and Aston Kinsey were the major destroyers with 2-8 and 2-14 respectively. Berkshire were never stretched in reply and afforded the retirement of their captain David Tooze (21*) and fellow opener Don Townsin (18*) as they reached their target with nearly 17 overs to spare.

Player of the Match: David Tooze

Umpires: Gordon Whickman and Stuart Chilmaid
Scorer: Ethan Xuereb and Claire Whickman

Match 4: Warwickshire remain unbeaten as they cruise past Essex

Warwickshire 235 for 5 (D.Gardner 54, R.Cooper 45*; S.Healey 44*, C.Harborne 3-32) defeated Essex 105 for 7 off 30 overs (I.Selby 49*; D.Gardner 2-10).

An impressive batting display by Warwickshire's top order saw them defeat Essex by 130 runs.   Duncan Gardner (54), Kevin Bissett (33) Richard Cooper (45*) and Steven Healey (44*) pummelled the Essex bowling to all parts of the Marsa oval as they reached the imposing total of 235 for 5 from their allotted 30 overs. For Essex, Carey Harbone was the major wicket-taker with 3 for 32. Essex lost their captain Paul Wakefield early and never recovered to make any sort of challenge to the Warwickshire score. Ian Selby (49*) and Sanjeev Sood (22) were the main contributors as they ended their innings on 105 for 7. For Warks, Duncan Gardner rounded off a fine all-round display capturing 2 for 10 from 6 fine overs.

Player of the Match: Duncan Gardner

Umpires:  Keith Boyall and Barry Toombs
Scorers: Ethan Xuereb and David Murphy

Standings after Day 2 of the Malta Seniors Cricket Festival 

1) Warwickshire - Played 2 - Won 2

2) Berkshire - Played 1 - Won 1

3) Yorkshire Ridings - Played 1 - Won 1

4) Essex - Played 2 - Lost 2

5) Kent & Surrey - Played 2 - Lost 2