SOUTH WALES PREMIER
NEWPORT are the outright leaders of South Wales Premier Cricket League Division One after a sevenwicket victory over winless Ammanford.
Ammanford won the toss, elected to bat first and went on to score 180 before being bowled out after 49.2 overs.
Third batsman Daniel Roberts led the charge at Ammanford Park with 64 off 70 balls, which included nine fours. Elis Richards also chipped in with 37.
Callum Taylor proved useful with the ball as he took 4-34 while Michael Clayden bagged 2-19.
Newport, who were pipped to the title last year, only needed five batsman to catch them with 181-3.
Captain Matthew Norris stole the spotlight with a 65-ball 74 but Mark Wallace (41no), Taylor (30no) and Joseph Voke (24) all played their part in the victory.
St Fagans, who shared the lead heading into the weekend, chalked up a big 125-run win but fell onepoint behind Newport.
Division Two champions St Fagans won the toss at Marespool and opted to bat, claiming a big 220-5.
Gareth Rees was the highest scorer with 68 but both Matt Thompson and Oscar Kolk added 37 to bolster St Fagans’ score.
Having lost their opening three games, Mumbles may have lacked the belief to catch St Fagans and they were soon bowled out on 95 after 31.2 overs thanks to the efforts of Ollie Pipe, who took five wickets.
Gavin Williams notched just under a third of Mumbles’ runs with 30.
Elsewhere, reigning champions Cardiff fell to back-to-back defeats with a 117-run defeat to Bridgend Town. Bridgend won the toss at Forest Farm and managed to score an impressive 282-8 after electing to bat.
Ruaidhri Smith was in exceptional form with 151 from just 120 balls.
Thomas Cogbill added a half-century (50) while Alex Jones scored 31.
Bowlers Osama Subhan (3-53) and Prem Sisodiya (2-52) tried their best but Bridgend completed their 50 overs.
In reply, Alun Thomas led Cardiff to 165 but Smith (3-50), Alex Jones (3-27) and Tomos Jones (3-20) were all in fine form as each took three wickets to help bowl out the champions.
Steffan Jones (30) was the only other batsman to hit more than 20.
The defeat leaves Cardiff languishing in mid-table after just four games.
Elsewhere, Neath continued their good form with a six-wicket success over Port Talbot Town at The New Mansel.
Hosts Port Talbot elected to bat, after winning the toss, and went on to score 216-9 thanks largely to Barney Huxtable’s century (103).
Alex Milton, who notched a total of 1,103 runs last season, fired in a helpful 25 before being bowled out by Efan Davies, who took a further two wickets.
Andrew Brewster (2-48) and Sean Griffiths (2-35) also proved dangerous with the ball in hand.
But Neath did not mess about in the chase as Steffan Roberts (88) and Sean Griffiths (86no) guided the visitors to 219-4.
Richard Edwards (3-54) stood out for Port Talbot as he took three of the four wickets.
In the other game in the division, Ynysygerwn edged to a narrow 13run win over Pontarddulais.
Having opted to bat after winning the toss, Ynysygerwn bagged 229-7.
Connor Brown was the star with 127, which included 15 fours and one six, but skipper Alex McCormack showed his worth with 43.
Owen Morgan hit back with 118no for Pontarddulais, which ensured a nail-biting finish.
Samuel Pearce (31) and Carl Roberts (20) added to the score as they edged closer to the target but Pontarddulais ran out of overs on 216, with one wicket still intact.
In Division Two, Penarth (2776) edged the early top-of-the-table clash with Clydach (230ao) as they emerged from Waverley Park with a 47-run win.