Aber push city leaders to the wire

THREE South Wales Premier One wins in a row made the prospect of hosting leaders Cardiff CC less ominous than it otherwise would have for Abergavenny 1sts, who batted first after winning the toss.

Apart from losing Lloyd Sharp for five (7-1), they batted really well, with three of the top order making half centuries – Baljeevan Khalsa, Jack Ryan and Morgan Bevans.

At drinks they were 101-1, before the dreaded break once again saw wicket number two falling, with Khalsa caught for 58 (103-2).

But an exhilarating 93-run third-wicket partnership between Bevans and Ryan then put them on target for maximum batting points.

Ryan, in his last game of the season before heading Down Under to play cricket in Adelaide, scored 69 before being bowled (194-3), with Bevans going on to make 73 before falling to a catch (227-4).

And although they lost a few cheap wickets towards the back end of the innings, they reached 250-6, in a really good effort against this term’s top side.

The total was probably around par, so it was important to get early breakthroughs.

Ryan brought on first change took a wicket with his first ball having Sam Evison caught by Bevans (33-1).

And Abergavenny’s attack managed to remove both ex-Glamorgan player Prem Sisodiya and current Glamorgan player Henry Hurle, reducing Cardiff to 127-3 with 22 overs remaining.

Sam Wyatt and Lewis Popple then came together and put Cardiff in the ascendency, but they still required 63 from their last 10 overs.

Josh Spies, in his last game before returning home to Queensland, removed Wyatt for 67 in the 42nd over and then bowled Popple for 43 to turn the screw (200-5), with the city side still needing 47 to win from the last six overs.

Ryan took his second wicket to make it 206-6, but a couple of expensive overs swung the pendulum again, with Cardiff needing nine to win from the last two overs, which they duly achieved reaching 254-6 with four balls to spare.

Sam Clarke took 2-31, Jack Ryan 2-39 and Josh Spies 2-47, with the result leaving Cardiif 20 points clear at the top, while Abergavenny’s eight points give them a nine-point cushion from the drop zone with two fixtures left, with second-placed St Fagans away this Saturday.

After a shock loss last week, South Wales East 4 leaders Abergavenny 2nds made short work of Whitchurch Heath 2nds, dismissing them for 151 after having reduced them to 65-6 and later 127-9.

Marc Morgan took 3-30 backed by Lewys Wilkes-McCarthy with 2-28 and a wicket each for Dylan Beaumont-Welsh, Eric Pike and Toby Smith.

Ex-1sts skipper Will Glenn in his seasonal appearance made 21 in reply as the top four batters all made starts, Will Eccles scoring 28, Toby Smith 33, and Ed Woolcott 22 to take them to 126-4.

And young Ioan Wallace with an unbeaten 17 and Archie Eccles nine not out then saw them to 154-4 in the 26th over, leaving them 15 points clear at the top with two games left.

Elsewhere, James Morris put on a magnificent batting display for the second week running for the 3rds in SEW 10, bettering his unbeaten 136 from the previous week with a brilliant 183 not out away to Abertillery Town 1sts, firing 31 fours and four sixes in his brilliant 147-ball knock.

He had great support from Ryan Williams (28), Jaiden Caswell (32) and Ted Jackson (26) as they reached 283-3 off 40 overs.

In reply, the hosts weren’t overawed, scoring 161 before losing their first wicket, but Aber restricted them to 260-6 to take the victory.

Campbell Cullum was the pick of the bowlers with 3-41, with a wicket each for Jackson, Steve Brown and Ed Loose.

Maria Sheehan with two wickets for 25 and Madeleine Powell 1-17 were unfazed playing against Whitchurch’s Heath’s 4ths men for Aber 4ths in SEW 13.

Whitchurch were bowled out in the 37th over for 150, with Majesh Joseph also taking 2-37, Dinto Pappachan 1-29 and Elis Jones 1-10.

Aber then reached 151-5 in 34 overs, Sheehan scoring 47, Mat Jones 37 and Sashank Chavali 34.

On Saturday, Aber 2nds host Pentyrch 2nds and the 3rds host Pontymister & Crosskeys 2nds, while the 4ths are away to Blaina 2nds.