Taylor and Friend make Ammanford bowlers suffer in sun
AMMANFORD were on the wrong side of another ridiculously highscoring match in the South Wales Premier Cricket League as they lost by 107 runs at Newport.
This was despite scoring 251 themselves.
Newport’s confidence in their batting was evident when they won the toss and elected to take first knock.
Despite an early setback when opener Michael Clayden was caught off the bowling of Owen Davies, Newport’s confidence was justified as Harry Friend and Callum Taylor produced a record-breaking partnership of 304 runs for the second wicket.
The stand was not without incident, however. An lbw appeal against Friend was first upheld before the umpire changed his mind.
The opener then went on to score 138 before being dismissed by Dan Roberts. He plundered three sixes and 14 boundaries.
But even Friend had to play second fiddle to Taylor. He was undefeated on 196 at the close as he struck 22 boundaries and four sixes, with the hosts finishing on 358-2.
Ammanford’s response began promisingly. The outfield was lightning fast and anything that went beyond a fielder was automatically four runs.
For a short while, Newport’s mammoth target looked within the realms of possibility. Then a few of unfortunate shot selections prompted five wickets to fall, and the task was quickly out of reach.
Opener Rhodri-Huw Davies batted well for his 36, but it was left to Xavier Clarke (87 not out) and skipper Alun Evans (82 not out) to claim maximum batting points and show their colleagues the sort of measured approach that a task of this magnitude needed.
They combined for an unbroken stand of 153 as Ammanford finished on 251-5.
The defeat drops them to seventh in the table, with only 14 points separating the bottom four teams.
On Saturday they face joint-bottom Port Talbot Town at the Park.
Meanwhile, Ammanford reached the quarter-finals of the South Wales Cricket Association’s T20 competition thanks to a thrilling penultimate-ball victory at Gorseinon.
The home side batted first and made a creditable 153-5, thanks mainly to ex-Ammanford man Matthew Roberts who hit 56 from 34 deliveries. He was well supported by Thomas Fowles with a run-a-ball 43.
Ammanford bowlers Rhys-Huw Davies and Owen Davies took two wickets each.
In reply, Rhodri-Huw Davies (21) and Kurtis Marsh (20) gave Ammanford an excellent start with a stand of 44 off 28 balls.
This was followed by a 62-run partnership between skipper Josef Davies (37) and Craig Maloney (49 not out), who hit the winning runs with just one delivery to spare.