Pwllheli (127) lost to Brymbo (196 for 7)

IT was another sweltering day as Pwllheli welcomed second-placed Brymbo to a baking Parc Bodegroes in the North Wales League Premier Division, and ultimately fell short by 69 runs in the end.

Connor Davies hit a half century for the visitors as they set a target of 196 for 7 after 50 overs, and despite Jason Underwood top scoring with 32, Pwllheli’s batsmen were all out for 127 in the 43rd over.

Unsurprisingly Brymbo captain Claybrook had no hesitation in batting first under the blazing sun, although Pwllheli’s opening bowlers Murray-Williams and Michael Hughes had early success.

Greg King was caught behind by Craig Edwards, having made 17 with 3 fours, from the bowling of Murray-Williams, and Chris Moore held a catch from visiting captain James Claybrook for 1 run.

Murray-Williams also bowled opener Gareth Pugh for 8, and the visitors were at a shaky 26 runs for three men down.

Joss Roberts and Connor Davies rescued the innings, however, with a stand of 88 runs for the fourth wicket, before Roberts was caught by Moore from the bowling of Underwood for 45, including 5 fours.

Syed Aslam then nipped in with three wickets to restrict Brymbo to a final total of 196 from their 50 overs, with Mohamed Nilam Jayman being dismissed lbw for 5.

Davies went on to top score with a fine knock of 62, including six shots to the boundary, before he was finally caught by Sean Reilly from the bowling of Aslam.

Good support was provided by the hard-hitting Gareth Boys, who struck 5 fours in his 34 off 32 balls, before being stumped by Edwards off bowler Aslam.

Aslam finished with 3 wickets for 41 runs from his 10 overs, Murray-Williams took 2 for 48 off 12, and there was a wicket apiece for Hughes and Underwood.

Pwllheli’s batsmen resembled the walking wounded as they went out to bat, with Murray-Williams, Moore, Williams, Roberts, Underwood all carrying knocks.

Their innings was below par as a steady fall of wickets followed to Brymbo’s trio of spin bowlers. Ben Roberts had opener Swapnil Kate caught by Greg King for 7, and dismised Murray-Williams lbw for 4.

Opener Craig Edwards and Jason Underwood took the score from 18 for 2 to 52 for 3, before Edwards was caught by Ben Roberts from Gareth Boys for 17.

Connor Davies caught and bowled Sean Reilly and had Chris Moore stumped, but Underwood had offered resistance with 32 before he unluckily fell, when he too was stumped by the excellent King.

Further wickets fell to Davies and Mohamed Nilam Jayman, and at 84 for 9 it looked like Pwllheli were heading for a zero points return - but Adam Williams strolled to the crease to hit 32 entertaining runs off 25 balls, including 4 fours.

The last wicket stand with the steadfast Owen Reilly (12 not out) added an innings’ best 41 runs to give Pwllheli an unexpected 2 points for their efforts, and keep them in the top half of the table.

Brymbo spinners Connor Davies (4 wickets for 33) Jayman (2 for 26) and Boys (1 for 34) were supported by pace bowler Ben Roberts who grabbed (3 for 29).

Their last two games were always going to be tough against the top two teams in the League, but Pwllheli will be disappointed that they didn’t compete better.

This Saturday will see the visit of relegation favourites Hawarden Park.

PWLLHELI Seconds eased home to a seven-wicket success at Pentre Mawr Park as a half century from Neil Williams saw them chase down Abergele’s total of 177 for 7.

Skipper Williams made 52 and fellow opener Iwan Moore put on 40 to put Pwllheli on track, before Rhys Griffiths (26 not out) and Cian Llewelyn Jones (24 not out) scored the winning runs by the 39th over.

For Abergele, Huw Wilyman took 2 wickets for 22 runs in 3 overs.

Having won the toss and elected to bat in glorious conditions, the hosts made steady progress through Iwan Thomas (44), Jain Sebastian (30), Sam Painter (35), Luke Sellers (24), and Robert Atkinson (16) to reach 177 for 7.

Neil Williams took 4 wickets for 16 from his 7 overs, and there were also wickets for Ioan Richards (1 for 40), Yasharth Mishra (1 for 32), and Ioan Lloyd (1 for 24) in keeping the home total down to under 200.