Abergavenny won the toss home to Malpas and after some debate decided to bat first on a lovely warm afternoon, reports PAUL SUSSEX.

Those on the side of fielding first were wishing they had won the debate as Abergavenny fell for the second week running to a disappointing 68-5.

Tom Pipe who injured himself in the warm up batted at number 5 and when Tom Norton (26) was caught on the boundary he was joined by Sam Clarke and between them they put things right with a stand of 114 for the sixth wicket.

Sam who made 44 and his brother David Clarke were then both out leaving Pipe and Jack Ryan to see out the 50 overs.

Pipe did this to great effect and in so doing passed his century, albeit having been applauded for the achievement the umpire signalled ‘One short’, but next ball he duly completed a well constructed top and finished on 121 not out with Ryan eight not out and the stand worth 38 runs.

Tom’s century came off 128 balls and included 10 fours, having only managed one run from his first 21 balls faced.

Abergavenny were assisted by some poor fielding from the Malpas team who dropped at least six catches as the hosts reached 245-7 off 50 overs.

It was probably a 50/50 game at the interval, but once James Francis had bowled Michael Martin for 30 with the first ball of his spell the game edged in Abergavenny’s favour.

A stand that took Malpas to 106-2 gave them hope but from that point they lost wickets regularly and were soon 139-8 with Alfie Cutmore in his second spell ending with 4-40 well supported by Sam Clarke with 3-27 and Lewys Wilkes-McCarthy, Jack Ryan and James Francis taking a wicket each.

Malpas were all out for 170 in in 40 overs as Aber increased their lead in Division One to 11 points after five matches.

The team was Will Glenn (Capt), Tom Pipe, James Francis, Joe Harris (wk), Tom Norton, Jack Ryan, Ellis Jones, Sam Clarke, Dave Clarke, Alfie Cutmore Lewys McCarthy.

Officials were Mike Read and Keith Redford.

On Saturday, Abergavenny 1sts visit fifth-placed Radyr.

Pontypridd 2nd XI 235-9

Abergavenny 2nd XI 147-9

PONTYPRIDD batted first in the SEWCL Division 6 clash and Abergavenny bowlers made it difficult at first with the hosts 19-2 and 87-4. But a 95-run stand for the fifth wicket saw Pontypridd regain control and they reached 235-9 at the close.

Aber skipper Gareth Powell took 3-31, Dylan Beaumont-Welsh 2-56 and Greg Spencer, Ryan Pugh, Richard James and Lloyd Sharp took a wicket apiece.

The visitors then lost Ioan Lilly with just two runs on the board. Nathan Holley with 20, Steve Brown 41 and William Eccles 19 repaired the damage slightly and with Lloyd Sharp chipping in with 22 not out they managed to get a reasonable score without ever looking like reaching the target.

Losing three wickets in the 90s and four in the low hundreds made for a disappointing day at Ynysangharad Park

This week the 2nd XI are at home to Malpas 2nd XI

Lisvane 4th XI 159-7

Abergavenny 3rd XI 160-4

LISVANE won the toss and batted first scoring 159-7 in their 40 overs,

They never really recovered from 74-4 with Lee Fury the skipper taking 4-36 and there was one wicket each for Manuraj Raju, Roy Packiyaraj and Dinto Pappachan.

Abergavenny made up for last week by winning comfortably in just 28 overs, surpassing the target with 160-4.

There were contributions from a number of players with the bat who set it up nicely for Mihla Sibanda with an unbeaten 58 and Will Jones 20 not out to finish the job for a much-needed boost for the team after last week’s efforts against the strong South Wales Sri Lankans.

This Saturday the 3rd XI will play host to Croesyceiliog 3rd XI.

Abergavenny 4th XI 144-3

Blackwood Town 3rd XI 140-6

BLACKWOOD batted first in ideal conditions with the ground at Crickhowell looking beautiful.

Both runs and wickets were quite elusive in the Division 12E clash, and at the close of their allocation of 40 overs the visitors had mustered 140-6, two of which were run outs, with Colin Griffiths taking 2-27 and a wicket each for Shaheen Choudhry and Adil Gatrade .

In reply skipper Stuart Eccles continued his good form getting his team off to a fine start, with 41.

Satish Rohra made a really good 59 in a partnership with Ross Hayden (20) and Ioan Parry saw them over the line in just the 27th over for a seven- wicket victory.

This weekend, the 4th XI are away at Chepstow 3rd XI.