The 2002 cricket season comes to an end this Saturday with the final of the Knock Out competition being played at Hadar Yosef . The game will commence at 9:30.

The game is expected to produce many thrills and excitement as league winners Lions Lod take on the veteran Tel Aviv . This years knock out final is a repetition of last years league final when Tel Aviv surprised everyone in winning an exciting match. This year however Lions Lod must be odds on favourites. They will be playing 8 Israeli internationals in their side, including the 3 Massil brothers, opening batsmen Yefet Nagavkar and Mahendra Jaiswar, off spinner Anim Solomon, and wicket-keeper Gidon Talkar. The team will be looking to their openers to take on the Tel Avivians with the Massil brothers providing the runs in the middle order. Their opening attack is undoubtedly the sharpest in the country but should face fierce resistance from the spirited Tel Aviv batsmen.

Tel Aviv have confounded their critics the whole season. Starting off the season with the best bowling attack of Perreira, Herschel Gutman and Paul Thomas, they now find themselves relying on the veterans Mike Mohnblatt and Avner Greenberg to do the damage. Between them they have taken 30 wickets this season. Backed up by excellent catching (a total of 53 have been held this year) and an amazing team spirit the Tel Aviv outfit have had the better of most teams this season. They were most unfortunate to lose the semi final of the league missing 5 of their team. Their batting relies heavily on Frank Auger who has contributed so much to the team this year both on and off the field. Last years openers SteveLeigh (18 dismissals behind the wickets) and Danny Malyenkar have both had a poor season with the bat. Leading the Tel Aviv run chase this season is Stanley Perlman who took over the captaincy when Gutman's returned to South Africa for personal reasons. His aggressive batting has won many a game for the Tel Aviv side. If Tel Aviv are to win on Saturday then both Perlman and Auger will have to score heavily.

Last Saturday Lions Lod (233) beat Be'er Sheva A by 80 runs with Isaac Massil and Solomon scoring heavily after being dropped early on. In the other semi final Tel Aviv thrashed Ashdod A by 8 wickets. Sent in, Ashdod totalled 85, with all the Tel Aviv bowlers getting wickets. In reply, Tel Aviv knocked off the runs in just 20 overs, with Perlman (41) and Phil Yizrael (29*) ensuring the victory was never in doubt.

© Israel Cricket Association