A hot and humid Saturday afternoon saw Aberystwyth University Commoners visit the Geufron for an eagerly anticipated town vs. gown clash.

Aberystwyth (200-3) beat UWA Commoners (196-7) by 7 wkts, Fine & Country West Wales Conference

Visiting skipper Bill Somerfield won the toss had no hesitation in choosing to make first use of a true pitch and a lightning-fast outfield.

Aberystwyth’s opening bowlers, Noa Jones and Michele Watson both produced excellent opening spells to keep Commoners in check.

Jones beat the bat several times without luck, but it was a moment of hesitation in running between the wickets that brought about the breakthrough, with Matt Salter throwing down the stumps to run out the dangerous Mo Aslam for just 4.

Somerfield followed shortly afterwards, set up by an outswinger and then beaten by a perfectly pitched Watson inswinger for 11, leaving Commoners struggling at 27-2 off the first 10 overs.

An innings of real quality and aggression from Arshad Sher then threatened to swing the match in Commoners’ direction. Ably supported by Faysal Shahzad (20), Sher struck the ball fiercely to all corners of the ground and was unlucky to fall just short of a deserved century, smartly caught behind by Adam Shaw off the bowling of Omair Syed for 98.

With Sher back in the pavilion, Aberystwyth’s bowling attack was able to reassert control, and did well to restrict Commoners to 196-7 off their 40 overs. The pick of the batsmen in the later overs was Jan Ruzicka, who struck a well-made 30 not out. All the Aberystwyth bowlers performed well. Noa Jones was unlucky not to take a wicket, but going for just 20 runs off 8 overs was a vital contribution, as was Michele Watson’s stand-out performance of 3-26.

In reply, Matt Salter immediately set about chasing down the target with some brutal power-hitting at the top of the order, hammering several huge sixes as Aberystwyth raced to 57 without loss inside the first 8 overs.

Sher’s introduction to the attack led to the dismissal of Salter for an excellent 35, but this only brought Iwan Roberts to the crease, and the experienced Aberystwyth batsman combined positivity with stylish stroke play to race to a half century of his own, putting on a stand of 84 at more than a run a ball with home skipper, Jim Vaughan.

Both fell with the total in the 140s, Roberts for 54 and Vaughan for 40, but Dave Wilcockson (35 not out) and Noa Jones (15 not out) ensured that there were no further alarms, progressing serenely to the winning target with 10 overs to spare and just three wickets down.

Aberystwyth’s victory by seven wickets was harsh on Arshad Sher, whose 98 runs and 3 wickets surely qualified him for the man of the match award. Aberystwyth meanwhile, after three successive victories, look forward to hosting league-leaders Tywyn CC on Sunday.