Talybont Rachels gained revenge from their first-day loss in an eventful match at the Geufron.
Talybont (189) beat UWA Commoners (92) by 97 runs, West Wales Conference sponsored by Fine & Country
Home captain Vinod Matthew won the toss, and with a hard, yellow pitch at his disposal, chose to bat. The first over set the tone for the rather chaotic match, with Bava Vasu twice hitting Ian Lawton for expansive boundaries before being bowled.
Graison John was joined at the crease by Matthew, and both showed patience as it became apparent that there was a pit of spice in the pitch. John was given a life off Harish, but the same bowler got his reward when Matthew feathered a cut to Ruzicka behind the stumps for 12.
Ayush Sharma, in wonderful form of late, quickly set about dominating the bowling, and struck three elegant boundaries. It came as a surprise to all when Guy Baron bowled him with an excellent leg-cutter with the score on 75.
John was also looking in good form and had reached 40 when he top-edged a hook off Lawton and was very well caught by Mo Aslam running backwards at slip.
By now, Arshad Sher was engaging in his usual duel with Rhodri Lloyd-Williams, and honours were probably even when Sher induced a mistimed flick to midwicket, Baron pocketing the catch. Lloyd-Williams had made 20.
Jahangir found it difficult to get going and was trapped on the crease by Sher shortly afterwards, to be followed by Joel Abraham, this time to a catch off Baron. The home side’s decline accelerated with the cheap removal of Antony and the dangerous Phil Abraham, Arshad taking both wickets.
With the score on 149-9 and 11 overs left, the tide had to be turned, and Talybont Rachels found doughty fighters in the shape of experienced campaigner Huw Chambers and the entertaining Milton John.
They frustrated the bowlers for 10 attritional overs, Chambers with his decades-old ‘leave or block’ strategy, and John with two classical straight drives for six which belied his no 11 spot. The pair had got the score to 189 when Baron induced a mistimed drive from Chambers, Lawton taking the catch at mid-off. The bowlers shared the wickets, Lawton, Singh and Baron taking two wickets each, and Sher reaping 4-47 with his usual menace.
The momentum had dissipated, but not vanished from the Commoners effort, Bill Somerfield hitting two boundaries off Phil Abraham at the start of their innings, a trademark cut to the point boundary, and a flick to the opposite midwicket rope.
The latter proved his downfall, an Abraham full toss being cleanly hit to leg again, only for Chambers to take a searing catch to his right. This was trumped soon afterwards, as Arshad Sher hit a low drive worthy of a golfing 1-iron towards long off, only for Phil Abraham to nonchalantly hold the ball above his head.
Mo Aslam showed both immaculate defence and classical drives at the crease, but with Jahangir getting the ball to spin and bounce from the Geufron end, runs were at a premium.
Ollie Somerfield showed good technique in countering the pace and guile of the bowlers, though, and at 53-2, the match was in the balance.
The 13th over proved the turning point, as Vasu came on to bowl and made the most dramatic impact possible. He took a hat-trick within his first four deliveries, Somerfield, Hughes-Pickering and Lawton all having their stumps shattered.
He then added the wicket of Aslam leg-before in the following over to leave the innings in ruins at 62-6. Baron was also leg-before to Sharma, and Phil Abraham picked up Harish Singh and Haziq Hasan. Hasan had impressed as a batsman, another player mocking his lowly spot.
Ruzicka fought hard to keep out Joel Abraham, but was left high and dry when Zahid Zahid pulled the young paceman to midwicket, with Antony parrying, chasing and finally catching the ball to bring the game to an end, a close and dramatic match to which the scorebook will never do justice. Phil Abraham took 3-27, and Vasu ended with the astonishing figures of 4-5.