Rhys denied a ton, but Ynys keep pressure on
RHYS Thomas was denied a deserved century, but still helped Ynysygerwn to victory at Merthyr in division one of the South Wales Cricket Association.
Thomas made a superb 99, an innings featuring seven sixes and seven boundaries, before he was dismissed for 99. He found excellent support from Nathan Davies with a run-a-ball 85, while Alex Mccormack struck a rapid 64 in Ynys’s total of 3496.
Cian Davies (42) and Ansh Tomar (37) also made valuable contributions.
Despite their efforts, the batting honours went the way of Merthyr opener Paras Jain. He smashed a magnificent 189 off just 110 balls to give his side a fighting chance.
He hammered nine sixes and 24 boundaries, but he found little support as the hosts were all out for 322. Cian Davies took 4-50.
Ynysygerwn’s 27-run win keeps them second in the table, three points behind Maesteg who by five wickets at home to Briton Ferry Steel.
The visitors were all out for 221 after batting first. Rhys Maddock scored 69 and Kris Pemberton was unbeaten on 35. Openers Lloyd Clement and Jamie Griffiths both made 31.
The total proved well within reach of the Maesteg top order, with Andrew King in fine form with 83.
Pemberton took three of the wickets to fall.
Llanelli are up to third after a 91-run victory over Bronwydd.
Llanelli, playing at home, chose to bat first and reached an imposing 274 before losing their last wicket in the 47th over.
Rhys Westcott led the way with a fluent 77 not out, while skipper Benjamin Edwards added a fine 52.
Ryan Nicholas had earlier made 43. Philip Howell was Bronwydd’s most successful bowler, finishing with figures of 4-35.
Bronwydd were reduced to 11-3 as they set about their reply, though a patient 64 by skipper Oli Furneaux helped them recover. They were eventually all out for 183, with Iwan Rees capturing 5-20 for the home side.
Llangennech suffered a sevenwicket defeat at Tata Steel.
The visitors struggled to gain any momentum after winning the toss and deciding to bat first and were all out for just 110 in the 29th over.
Simon Clement top-scored with 22, but the Tata bowlers held sway with Kelvin Bartle taking 4-23 and David Jones 3-33.
Tata had few scares in their reply, with Jack Donovan (34) and Bartle (30 not out) leading them home.
The closest game of the day saw Aberdare win by one wicket at Llandysul.
Felinfoel made it five out of five in division two as they beat Maesteg Celtic by three wickets.
Celtic were all out for 246 after deciding to bat first. Aron Bird led the way with a superb 107, with Adam Lawler adding 58. But they were the only two batters to reach double figures as Andrew Dyer took 5-21.
Robert Bowen (64) and Andrew Thomas (32) put on 85 for the first wicket as Felinfoel replied. Arun Maurya then added a valuable 43 as Foel secured victory with six balls to spare.
Skewen lie second after beating Morriston by 80 runs.
David Jenkins made 61, Efan Davies 52 and John Jones 40 as Skewen reached 265 off 49.5 overs.
It proved too much for Morriston, who were 185-7 at the close. James Findlay was 53 not out, with skipper
Meilyr Powell making 40 and Rhys Thomas 38.
Gowerton are up to third in the table after a 54-run defeat of visiting Drefach.
David Gascoyne stole the show for Gowerton with a wonderful 127 not out as his side made 288-4. Jack Hobbs scored 61 and Ben Croydon 43.
Opener Ben Mitchell gave the Gwendraeth Valley side hope with 72 and Tomos Ellis-williams smashed five sixes in a quickfire 51, but Drefach fell short on 234 all out. Joseph Symonds and Rhys Williams both took three wickets for Gowerton.
Swansea Civil Service fell to a sixwicket home defeat against Baglan.
Ahsan Mughal top-scored with 82 as the Service were all out for 206. Rhys Gaskins-davies took 4-35.
The visitors eased home with Taylor Rees making 63 and Jason Carpenter unbeaten on 47. Luke Salter took 3-44.
Llanwrda lost by 68 runs at Briton Ferry Town.
The home side were all out for 215 with Shakeel Amin leading the way with 70 and Rajarajan Kamaraj adding 60. Garan Williams took 4-36 and David Cumming 3-29.
Williams then made 53 in the visitors’ reply, but they were all out for 147. William Downes made 36.
Mumtaz Hussain took 5-23 for the hosts.