DIVISION 2

MAESTEG ............... 190-9 FELINFOEL ............. 189-7

MAESTEG welcomed a Felinfoel side to the Maesteg Cricket Ground, with the traveling side still sore from their first defeat in three last week.

A game that always looked close on paper certainly lived up to the expectations as a nail-biting finale ensued. Maesteg won the toss and chose to field and when two early wickets saw Felinfoel at 7-2, things looked optimistic from the home side’s perspective. However, a great batting display from Andrew Thomas, who made 67 runs inclusive of eights 4s, and Julian Griffiths, producing an excellent 87 with five 4s and three 6s, steadied the ship for the visiting side. Though, with no other Felinfoel batsman able to make double figured runs, a respectable, yet very beatable, 189 was what the away side would finish on, losing 7 wickets. Felinfoel’s batting struggles were due to to solid bowling from Maesteg’s Michael Bailley, Lee Morgan and Jeffrey Watkin, all taking a brace of wickets. With 190 the target for Maesteg, it was evident they would need a good start, aiming to get runs scored early, but losing a relatively early wicket with just 12 runs scored was not the ideal start for the home side. However they did look more comfortable at 100-4, with Ashley Colston making a real impact scoring 43 runs, with seven 4s. Three more wickets with just 33 runs scored by Maesteg meant that by the time Michael Lambert was dismissed, a score of 133-7 looked like it may fall just short of the 190 required. Ewan Lambert, on the other hand, was having none of that and when he manufactured his 29 runs the game could easily have swung either way; the fixture really was on a knife-edge. Running out of wickets and overs at 182-9, Maesteg needed composure and with the final ball of the game, the home side reached their 190 target and back-toback wins for the home side ensured it was the home side smiling at the end of this nerve-wracking tie. Maesteg, now 5th in the league, host Morriston next week in a fixture that will do well to match the drama seen in this tie.