The third match from the 40-over series between Melita Betfair and Krishna was played last weekend.

With the score tied at one-all, Melita had young duo Thomas Rusher and Adam Caruana opening the batting.

The junior players were bowled by Stuart Clarke and Daniel Galea, two other upcoming players, as Galea also struck the wicket of Andrew Mitchell.

Sumair Khan only managed six runs as Melita ran into deep trouble. However, Dave Borg and Prasad Vajindrap soon brought back some respect to their team’s scorecard.

Borg made 19 runs and Prasad 44 but once this duo was out Melita slipped up again and lost Dave Mansfield (six) and Chris Naudi (nil).

Again Melita found savours in Andy Naudi and Justin Brooke.

Naudi top scored with 59 runs and Brooke added 33 for Melita to finish with 206.

Krishna did not get the start they wanted and lost Javed Shah in the second over of the innings.

Sam Aquilina made 12 runs as he played the shot of the day when hitting one of the biggest sixes ever at the Marsa oval.

Sunny Krishna then joined Nowell Khosla at the crease and both were keeping the runs ticking in consistently. Naudi’s bowling spin finally had Khosla dismissed after 56 runs but Melita were still not out of the woods.

Robert Krishna batted well enough for 15 runs as the tide changed five overs later when Sunny Krishna (38) was caught by Chris Naudi.

At the very next ball, Ronnie Sacco was brilliantly caught by Sumair Khan.

Melita were now in charge and they did not let the game slip from their grasp.

Eventually, they bowled out Krishna for 187 runs with Andy Naudi skittling four wickets.

Melita now have a 2-1 lead in the series with a game remaining.

Meanwhile, the 20-over Winter League continues next Saturday with the match between Marsa and Krishna.