The first DCF Regional tournament for some years got under way yesterday in bright and breezy conditions at the Svanholm Park ground here in Brøndby. A slow, low wicket and even slower outfield have contributed to make conditions for batting difficult, but having said this there have still been some outstanding performances with both bat and ball to report.

Batting first, Denmark B found the going tough against some outstanding seam bowling from Henrik Hansen, Zishan Shah and David Borscheson, the latter delivering very long and accurate spells. To be fair all batsmen found the slow conditions difficult, but it was the experience in the end of Herning’s seasoned campaigner, Carsten Pedrsen (84 not out) that shone through, as the old master stroked the ball around the park with an array of fine strokes. He was as well supported in a ninety nine run partnership by Kolding’s Martin Pedersen (30), the youngster confidently driving the ball to all corners. The B team finally declared their innings on 186 for 8 wickets, off of a mammoth 85 overs, but nobody in the ground was expecting what was to happen next!

In reply, Denmark A were hit with an outstanding display of pace bowling from youngsters Sair Anjum 4 for 12 and Martin Pedersen 1 for 12, both players showing experience beyond their years in terms of accuracy and movement. All A team batsman struggled against the duo, indeed only Rizwan Mahmood (13) managed to reach double figures. They were well supported by Glostrup’s Aftab Ahmed and AB’s Bashir Shah, but the day closed with the A team precariously placed on 52 for 8 of just 32 overs. Denmark B will be looking to close the innings early this morning, bat with a positive approach, and look to close the match within the specified time frame.

Resumption of play day two and the excitement was growing at Svanholm Park as Denmark A closed in on the first innings victory total of ninety five runs. However, victory was snapped at the last grasp as Bashir Shah 3 for 16, captured the last man, to snatch first innings victory.

So the game was now set for some exciting declaration cricket and an array of strokes for the remainder of the match. Kamran Mahmood (39) and Michael Pedersen (57) both showed the full range of their exciting stroke play, the later demonstrating some real class, particularly with the amount of straight drives on show. At completion of their second innings Denmark B set their opponents a match winning total of 209, in 43 overs, and the A Team were not going to go down without a fight.

Denmark A set off in their run chase at an express rate, David Borcheson (25), Yasir Iqbal (39) and Rizwan Mahmood (32) all excited the spectators with a fine selection of strokes as they set about their 5 runs an over target. Runs were hard to come by as the ever consistent Bobby Chawla 4 for 31 slowly tigthend the knot around their opponents. Skipper Michael Pedersen 2 for 33 also contributed to victory as the A Teamer’s finally ran out of time sixty eight runs short of their total, the match finishing as a draw, Denmark B winning on first innings scores at sixty overs.

After the match, thanks were give to DCF for their input to the weekend, umpires, Tim Jensen and Bent Nielsen, and the army of helpers behind the scenes. National Coach, Simon Talbot was pleased with the weekend, “The guys have really learned a lot about themselves this weekend, events like this can only help in developing the game here in Denmark, and I am looking forward to more cricket of this nature.”

At the same time as the senior match the Under Thirteens and Under Fifteens played 2 matches next door at Svanholm Park. In the first match Team a scored 149 with Herning's Frederik O'Dywer topscoring with 36. Team B bowlers didn't do that well giving away 37 extras. Instead the batsmen were a better force as they passed the total with 10 overs to spare. Svanholm's Mati Malik stood out with 52* supported by Herning's Mads Nyeng with 30. Team A's Hammad Shah from Svanholm took 3 for 44. On the Sunday Team B opened with 147 thanks to Jannik Wiese from Husum with 30. Wickets where shared amongst the bowlers. Team A however were skittled for 76 thanks mostly to Hamad Shah's 3 for 18 and Mads Nyeng's 3 for 24.

Even though the national squads were in action Sunday and Monday one first division  match was played on the Monday. KB's second eleven met top side Albertslund who have been for years seeking promotion but wthout succes. Their present form will not give them promtion this years as their rivals from Ishoj have been far more dominent. However Albertlund's bowlers didn't have much trouble with KB as they were all out for 81with A. Javed taking 3 for 13. He continued his good day with the bat making 31* as Albertslund only lost one wicket passing KB's total. KB II and last year's promoted Hvidovre are now firmly planted at the bottom of the table while Ishoj, Kolding, Skanderborg and Albetslund look like being the candidates for promtion this year.