SOUTH WALES ASSOCIATION
LEADERS Bronwydd were given a scare by lowly Merthyr Tydfil at Cnwc-y-Deri before running out narrow one-wicket winners.
Visitors Merthyr – with just one win in the league so far this term – were put into bat after losing the toss and bowled out for 113.
Gihan Fernando bagged himself 4-13 off 9.4 overs while Tom Gleeson also picked up a couple of wickets.
The hosts were then made to sweat in reply but got home thanks largely to the efforts of Oliver Furneaux (33) and Gleeson, who was there at the end unbeaten on 22.
Meanwhile a 121-run stand for the opening wicket between Jeremy Dawes and Nicky Davies set Dafen Welfare on their way to a 40run victory at Briton Ferry Steel.
Dawes (77) smacked 13 fours while Davies (51) found the boundary rope eight times as the pair set the platform for the visitors’ 208-7 off their 50 overs.
Gareth Davies top scored for the hosts in reply but they were bowled out for 168 with Matthew Donoghue and Phillip George both collecting three wickets apiece.
Elsewhere in the top division, Llanelli were winners by 58 runs at Gorseinon.
Ryan Nicholas’ 50 in the middle order was Llanelli’s top score in their 192-9 off 50 overs before David Richards (4-31) and Vaughan Thomas (3-15) helped bowl the home side out for 134 in reply. BANGOR extended their winning streak to seven games with a sevenwicket victory over St Asaph in the North Wales Premier League.
St Asaph opted to bat after winning the toss but were bowled out on 100 with Alex Baker claiming 36 runs.
Nadeem Rehman proved to be the star with the ball for Bangor as he bagged 6-17.
And in-form Bangor made great progress in the chase with Francois Mostert hitting 35 and Robert Marshall chipping in with an unbeaten 15 to secure victory with 105-3.
Bangor’s victory was enough to put them top of the table with previous leaders Menai Bridge only managing to tie with Connah’s Quay.
Menai Bridge batted first and gave Connah’s Quay a tough target to reach with Robbie Jones (62) and Dion Hold- en (50) helping them reach 251 before they were skittled out with Brendan Bezuidenhout bagging 5-48.
But Connah’s Quay rose to the challenge with David Fox scoring 66 and Darren Leach backing that up with 42. And they came close to claiming a superb victory but Zach Ringrose managed to bowl Leach out on 49.3 overs, with Holden also claiming 4-52, to salvage the game and secure the tie.
Elsewhere, Denbigh (245-3) saw off Brymbo (243-4) by seven wickets.
ENGLAND’S T20 series against South Africa is on a knife edge as the teams prepare to lock horns in Cardiff today.
The hosts romped to a nine-wicket win at the Ageas Bowl on Wednesday before the Proteas fired back in a thrilling Friday night game in Taunton.
The tourists won a final-ball nailbiter by three runs to ensure the three-match series goes to a decider at The SSE SWALEC.
A near sell-out crowd is now expected for England’s third game in the Welsh capital in three weeks after the Champions Trophy. Captain Eoin Morgan may resort to his full strength side after handing opportunities to debutants Mason Crane, Liam Livingstone and Tom Curran in the past two matches. Alex Hales and Mark Wood are among those who may return for the hosts.
Lancashire talent Livingstone was at the centre of a catastrophic run out in Taunton as England faltered in their pursuit of South Africa’s 174. Jason Roy smote a belligerent 67 off 45 balls before he was dismissed in controversial circumstances.
Umpires judged the Surrey opener to be obstructing the field in an incident which proved pivotal to the outcome of the match in Somerset.
Proteas’ seamer Andile Phehlukwayo then held his nerve in a tense final over and England fell agonisingly short.
But Morgan took solace in the per- formance of young Surrey seamer Curran who took three wickets on debut. He could again feature today.
“Tom [Curran] was outstanding, his skill level was outstanding, he’s put on a yard and he makes his variations harder to pick,” said Morgan. “He bowled exceptionally. We want to see these guys play, but we also want to win at the same time.”
South Africa captain AB de Villiers was delighted to see his team bounce back after a disappointing ODI series and Champions Trophy. They will remain in the UK for the Test series with England after this Cardiff encounter.
“It was about the energy and show- ing the South African never-say-die attitude,” said de Villiers after Taunton. “We love the game back home and to see us come out on top means a lot — and now we have a decider on Sunday.”
The game 2.30pm. gets underway at ENGLAND (POSSIBLE): Hales, Roy, Bairstow, Morgan (capt), Buttler (wkt), Billings, Dawson, Willey, Plunkett, Curran, Crane. SOUTH AFRICA (POSSIBLE): Smuts, Hendricks, de Villiers (capt), Miller, Mosehle (wkt), Behardien, Morris, Parnell, Morkel, Phehlukwayo, Tahir.