Dolgellau (136 for 3) beat Abergele (135 for 9) by 7 wickets

DOLGELLAU’s return to action, after having their last two matches rained off, produced a seven-wicket home win over Abergele in North Wales division one.

The visitors, who won the toss and opted to bat first, were limited to 135 for 9 from their 50 overs, with Dolgellau responding with 136 for 3 in the 41st over.

The hosts’ Mark Edmondson took four wickets, and Phil Leeds and Sam Williams had two apiece, while Mike Thompson top scored for Gele with 24.

Greg Smithies’ 35 was Dolgellau’s top score as Thompson took three wickets.

There were 10 runs on the board when Abergele lost their first wicket, with David Williams being bowled by Edmondson. Jaco Oosthuizen, from the Church Bell end, then bowled Gareth Edwards for 12 to make it 28 for 2 in 11 overs.

Opener Ben Garnett and Thompson added 25 for the third wicket, with Leeds trapping Garnett lbw for 13 in his first over, and it was 75 for 4 when Thompson was adjudged lbw to Sam Williams for his 24, which included three boundaries.

The visitors lost two more wickets in adding 11 runs, with Josh Lloyd caught by Leeds at mid-off for 12, to give Williams his second wicket of the afternoon, and Lewis Tolond was bowled by Leeds.

Ed Rooney and Iwan Thomas took the total past the hundred mark by putting on 25 for the 7th wicket, the total being 111 in the 46th when Rooney was bowled by the returning Edmondson for 18.

Abergele scored another 24 runs from the last 4 overs to finish on 135 for 9.

Thomas made 15 and skipper Karl Higgins 10, both being bowled by Edmondson, with Owen Lynam and Chetan Upadhyaya being the not out batsmen.

It was a good bowling performance by Dolgellau. Edmondson’s 4 for 43 came from 12 overs, with Leeds and Williams being more miserly with the runs. Leeds sent down 12 overs, 6 of which were maidens, taking 2 for 16, and Williams claimed 2 for 21 from his 12, 3 maidens.

Oosthuizen was the other wicket taker, 1 for 32 from 12, including 3 maidens.

On the resumption, Sion Francis and Smithies had an opening partnership of 59 in 13 overs, before Francis gave a return catch to Thompson after scoring 23 from 40 balls, which included 5 fours.

Smithies and number three Tom Kistruck took it on to 83, at which Thompson had another caught and bowled, Kistruck being dismissed for 13 with 3 boundaries.

Seven runs later it was 90 for 3 as top scorer Smithies was caught at mid-on by Iwan Thomas to give Thompson a third wicket. Smithies made 35 from 61 deliveries, playing good attacking shots in the process. His knock contained 7 fours.

That proved to be the last success for the visitors as Gareth Lanagan was joined by Leeds in the middle. Together they proceeded to score the 46 more runs Dolgellau required for their 7 wicket victory.

Their partnership spanned 17 overs, but they were in no hurry as there were plenty of overs to be bowled and both batsmen paced their efforts accordingly.

The home target of 136 was reached in the 41st over, with Lanagan finishing on 23 not out and Leeds was on 20 not out.

Dolgellau earned 13 points to stay in 4th place in the division one, with the hard work in the nets coming to fruition.

For Abergele, Mike Thompson was the only bowler to have success, taking 3 for 28 from 7 overs, three other bowlers having good spells. Spinner Upadhyaya bowled 8 overs for just 12 runs, Lynam 8 overs for 26 and Tolond 7 overs for 29.

The match ball was sponsored by Travis Perkins. Dolgellau Firss will travel to Llanrwst this Saturday, while the Seconds are also away, to take on Ruthin Seconds.

• In other club news, Dolgellau Ladies won the Aberaeron Ladies’ festival on Sunday, and are hoping for more success when the Dolgellau Ladies Festival takes place at The Marian this Sunday.

The annual Kwik Cricket schools tournament was played at Dolgellau in midweek, and it was won by Ysgol O.M.Edwards, Llanuwchlyn; the runners-up being Ysgol Bro Idris, Dolgellau.