Welcome back sunshine, welcome back winning ways for our 2nd XI, as they trounced Ynysygerwyn at Marespool this afternoon (12th)!
Batting first after winning the toss, Jaimie Thomas’ team were soon 0-1..ask the skipper as to who was out first ball of the game! Anyway, several worthwhile contributions followed as returning Uni student Harri Turner (44, 5 fours) Rob Steele (73, 8 fours), Richard Gibby (20, 4 fours), Gareth Baggers (40, 2 fours) and Dave Phillips (24, 3 fours) plus 40 extras meant that the Club’s total at tea was an impressive 263-7!
After the break, “Ynys” got off to a decent start and were well placed at 112-1 when Harri combined with ‘keeper Steve Powell to dismiss the dangerous Adam Bray for 50! A further healthy partnership took the score to 150-2 when the Turner (2-31)/Pows combination struck again..150-3!
There followed a complete swing of power as Ynys were now finding the heat too much. Alex Davies (4-27) and Rob (4-36) simply ran through the rest of the batting order..187 all out. Jaimie’s lads had worked hard as a team to claim victory by 76 runs!
And “well done” too, to our ‘A’ XI for convincingly seeing off Llandysul at Murton at the same time!
Batting first, our visitors were greatly indebted to Meurig Jones (69) and Eric Extras (36) as they were the main men in their closing total of 166-7. Not fazed by Meurig’s dominance, John Courtney’s bowlers & fielders combined well to ensure that no other batsmen got going. The wickets were shared between Kaps (2-39), Stuart Seaton (1-19), George Lloyd (1-37), Luke Edwards (1-41) and Ian Joslin (2-7) while 14 year old Tomos Williams conceded only 19 runs from his 6 overs!
In reply, MCC were soon 2-1..not part of the plan! No probs though, as Sean Davies (34no, 3 fours), Ian Joslin (65, 12 fours) and Tony Dowrick (42no, 8 fours) remembered their lines! JC’s Men eventually cantered home in the 30th over to win by 8 wickets! An excellent all-round performance, lads!
Meanwhile, at Bridgend’s Newbridge Fields, our 1st XI came second in a thoroughly entertaining and, in the end, a remarkably close game!
With Captain Rochey Roche out nursing a suspected broken toe, experienced campaigner Aneurin “Noddy “Norman took over at the helm…and immediately lost the toss! His team were sent into bat and it wasn’t long before a trend developed at the top of the order. Guys looked set, playing with confidence, and then got out to some careless shots. Charles Clist (24, 2 fours), Gavin Williams (14, 2 fours) & Craig Meschede (17, 2 fours) were among the wickets which fell as the board read 82-4 in the 22nd over.
Captain Norman (31, 4 fours & a six) and Max Phillips took the total to 112 before Noddy left the arena. Now then, could anyone support all-rounder Max and get the Club up to any sort of competitive score? Not for a short while…
112-5 became 117-7 in no time but, crucially, Max was still there.
Rahul Shah strode in…they “had a word” in the middle, and set about formulating a high quality partnership which saved MCC’s blushes. These two guys combined great patience and shot selection to take the score to 191 in the 47th over, when Rahul was dismissed for 27 (1 four & 2 sixes)..a thoroughly enjoyable knock to watch. The final two wickets fell quickly…196 all out in the 48th over. Max had scored 50 (3 fours & 2 sixes) in one of his finest knocks for the Club, given the context.
In reply, our hosts made it quite clear that they would rather be somewhere else asap as they wasted no scoring chances..28-0 from four overs soon became 59-0, before Glamorgan’s Joe Cooke (31) threw his wicket away in the 12th over. Jack Straw however redressed the balance after dismissing Cooke..Bridgend 94-4 in the 24th over, with Jack claiming all four scalps! He finished with 4-25 from his 10 overs. Max and Noddy also played their parts during the second half, Max conceding just 49 runs from his 10 whilst Aneurin leaking a mean three from each of his eight overs.
One more wicket..just one more quick wicket would surely completely change the future of this match! Well, read on for what was to become as exciting a finale as you are likely to see/read about!
There was to be no quick wicket. 94-4 became 188-4 as Sam Pearce (58) & Alex Jones performed the second rescue act of the afternoon. Sam fell at that score..188-5, 9 runs required, Alex still in, 5 wickets in hand..start the cars!
Then, Wakeel Shah, who had taken a “bit of tap” at the start of Bridgend’s innings, came back for a third spell and started the 43rd over..191-5. Six balls later, that same board read 191-8, as two lbws & a catch by ‘keeper Chris Matthews saw Wakeel rip the home side apart!! And Alex Jones could only lean on his bat at the other end, staring in disbelief!
6 runs were still required and everyone fortunate to be in the park today was struggling to keep cool from the heat & the excitement. Alex (32no) & Tomos Jones, however, remained apparently undaunted as they dug deep to etch out those six runs..Bridgend won by 2 wickets in the 46th over. A truly great game!
Next Saturday (19th), the 1st XI welcome Swansea to Marespool whilst the 2nd XI make their way to St Helen’s for the reverse fixture. Following Felinfoel’s withdrawal of their 2nd XI from the league, our ‘A’ XI have no game. They do on Sunday, however, as they take on Pontarddulais at Marespool in the SWCA Intermediate Cup.