It was mixed fortunes for Usk last Saturday as the firsts beat Radyr, but the seconds lost to the same opponents. It was however a good weekend for the Aswani family, as both father Arvind and son Amit made half centuries.

At the Athletic Club Ground, captain for the day Henry Lewis won the toss and decided to bat. This proved a wise decision as the Usk batsmen immediately took control of the game. Owen Watkins (45) and Amit Aswani (83) put on 66 for the first wicket. Watkins then fell. Shortly after another wicket fell to bring Ollie James to the crease. James and Aswani then added 169 for the third wicket to take the score up to 254, when Aswani departed. James was out shortly before the end of the innings for 106, which included 13 fours and one six. Usk finished on an imposing 293-5 from their 50 overs. For the visitors, Ben Wakeling claimed three wickets.

Radyr’s reply got off to a solid start as Howard Stone (66) helped add 87 for the first wicket. With many of the top order making starts the visitors were well placed at 175-2. However, nobody went on to make a significant contribution, and a middle order collapse reduced Radyr to 209-6. Radyr never recovered from this position and ended up on 252-8 from their 50 overs; a victory for Usk by 41 runs. The wickets were shared between the Usk bowlers with James, Pat Rodden and Neil Perrett each picking up a brace.

Meanwhile over at Radyr, 2nd XI skipper Julian Smith won the toss and elected to field. This looked a good decision as the hosts struggled. Only Alun Williams (27) and Adam Khattar (33) made scores of note in a total of 166 all out from 43.3 overs. For the visitors Smith finished with the impressive figures of 7.2-2-23-3, while Harry Morris also picked a couple of wickets.

Usk’s reply centred around Arvind Aswani; and at 117-3 Usk were well placed with their chase. A clatter of wickets though put Radyr back in the game. When Aswani fell for 90 with the score at 140-7, Usk’s chance had gone. With the run rate ever increasing, Usk finished short on 151-9 from their 45 overs; a defeat by 15 runs. Aswani’s 90 had included 14 fours; the next highest score for Usk was Extras with 18. For Radyr, Priyansh Jha finished with 3-19.

This Saturday, Usk firsts travel to neighbours Abergavenny, (a 50-over game with play beginning at 12:30pm); while the seconds entertain the same opponents (45 overs per side with play commencing at 1pm). On Sunday, Usk play a friendly at home to Chepstow. Play starts at 2pm.