It is not often that a quite superb innings of 131 off 94 balls is nudged into second spot as MCC Player of The Day but it was thus this afternoon (27th)!
A tad more about that ton later but it was Dave Martin’s all-round efforts during our ‘A’ XI’s 30 run victory at Pontarddulais that took gold!
Batting first, MCC raised a total of 173-9 in their 40 overs – a fine effort, considering our score was 66-5 in the 21st over, and then 84-6 at the start of the 26th! Ben Jones (36, 2 fours & a six) , Dave (20, 1 of each), 14 year old Tom Phillips (22, 4 fours) and former skipper Eurig Morgan (23no, 2 sixes) worked well together, effecting the oh-so-important recovery!
After the break, “Bont” also lost early wickets, stumbling to 47-5. Some good middle order batting took them to 119-5 when the sixth wicket fell. That became 143 all out not long after.
‘A’ XI skipper Kaps took 1-32, Eurig 1-10, Ben 1-32 and Tom 1-32. However, it was Deadly Dave, with 6-13 from 6.2 overs, who clinched the deal!! Terrific effort, chaps!
At Marespool, stand-in 2nd XI Captain Steve Maddock led his team to a 36 run triumph over Ammanford in a high-scoring encounter on our back lawn.
Put into bat, our guys put together an impressive total of 263-4 in their 45 overs. Tim Hemp (38, 6 fours) and Harri Turner (64, 10 fours) put on 100 for the first wicket. Another wicket fell immediately but Harri and Ed Monger (72no, 9 fours & a maximum) then added 77 between them. This was followed by another fine stand of 78 between Ed and 16 year old Euan Amyatt-Leir (41, 3 fours & a six): 263-4 at the teatime close.
After the break, 15 year old Eoghan McKeegan (1-23) sent back one opener early doors: 2-1! Then Ammanford rallied, with 88 added for the second wicket: 90-2. However, Captain Steve ensured that his team kept plugging away, with the result that our visitors’ total soon read 91-3 & 104-4. 71 runs were then scored before the 5th wicket was taken, 175-5.
No recovery this time, though, as the next 5 batters left the scene within 52 runs – Ammanford 227 all out in the 43rd over. After Eoghan’s early success, Harri (1-43), Steve (3-30), Jaden Patel (2-36) and 17 year old Macsen Denman (3-46) saw their side home by 36 runs! Another superb win, which sees our 2nd XI move to 2nd in their Premier League table tonight!
Now, to that magnificent century for our 1st XI at Ynystawe!
Sadly, however, the support for skipper Aneurin Norman as he went about his business was just not enough. He was alas deprived of the strike too often during the innings, when most of his team mates got out playing some injudicious shots instead of focussing on giving their best chance of winning every support.
Batting first, with a short boundary on the road side of their lovely ground, our hosts sped to their team total of 331-5. The key factor here was that each of their top 4 batters scored over 60.
So, MCC needed over 6.5 runs an over from the start to bring off a remarkable win!
12-1 after 8 balls was in fact up with the required rate! Joe Phillips (37, 5 fours) came in at 3, to add an entertaining 92 runs with his captain in good time, 104-2 in the 21st over.
Aneurin carried on regardless of what was happening at the other end…boundary after boundary followed! Yes, he and Elliott Oates added 38 in 4 overs for the 5th wicket, before Elliott (5) was cleaned bowled attempting a reverse sweep shot: 172-5 with 17 overs remaining, 160 runs required.
A massive ask of course but the Ynystawe XI and their “Balconiers”, overlooking proceedings from outside the busy bar, knew that “Noddy” was well & truly in the mood, if only he had backing. Anyway, he did not and MCC were eventually rolled over for 208 in the 45th. Aneurin was dismissed for a quite remarkable 131 off 94 balls (oh, that he had faced more!), including 7 fours & 11 sixes!!
Next Saturday (3rd), our 1st XI welcome Chepstow to Marespool, the 2nd XI travel to Clydach and our ‘A’ XI take on Merthyr at Murton.
On Sunday, the ‘A’ XI make their way to take on Morriston in the semi-final of the SWCA Intermediate T20 Cup at Tir Canol Fields at 1pm.. good luck Kaps & Ko!!