CRICKET CATCH-UP: All the North Wales League action from past week – Bethesda topple Div 1 leaders, Carmel hero up to 1,991 wickets
NORTH WALES CRICKET LEAGUE REPORTS – AUGUST 31
DIVISION ONE
Northop 2nd XI (4) 205-10 Bethesda (11) 227-4
Second-place Bethesda beat leaders Northop seconds to keep their title hopes alive, although the Flintshire side are still 24 points ahead at the summit with three rounds of matches left.
Pesda won the toss, opted to bat, and rattled up a formidable 227-4 off 45 overs, skipper Carwyn L Williams hitting 82 to take his league runs tally in 2024 to 733.
The ever-consistent Williams is just 84 short of his all-time best 817 league runs in a season set in 2016.
Nicholas Parry finished 50 not out, while Williams’ fellow opener Richie Parry made 38 in a first wicket partnership of 126 with the captain.
Andrew Day picked up 3-30 and Richard Lee Williams 2-21 as Northop seconds’ response finished on 205, Henry Dowd 71 and Darren Williams 33.
Abergele (1) 187-6 Brymbo 2nd XI (14) 188-3
Star batsman Joss Roberts ended on 97 not out as Brymbo seconds coasted to a comfortable win at Pentre Mawr Park.
Roberts, who recently passed the 10,000 runs mark for the club, is on 759 in the league for the current season after recording his sixth half-century on top of two tons.
Inserted by the visitors, Gele set a decent 187-6 off 45, Lalmon TV 60 and Nathan Aldridge 49 not out.
Roberts then dominated the Steelmen’s reply 188-3 in 39.1, Oliver Sheldrake adding 32.
Connah’s Quay (13) 210-5 Buckley (2) 209-10
Brody Camp posted a fifty and took three wickets as Quay defeated Buckley by five wickets at Central Park.
Bucks won the toss and batted, recording a challenging score of 209 all out, Rocco Franco 45 and Carl Jutson 30, Camp 3-25 and Mali Auty 3-41 for the host team.
Camp then made 61, Auty 42 and Liam Cappiello 32 as Quay reached 210-5 in 42.1 overs, Adam Shaw 2-25 from nine for the visitors.
Dolgellau (13) 246-5 Mold (2) 174-10
Lafras Van Vuuren struck 74 and Sion Francis 67 in Dolgellau’s imposing total of 246-5 off 45 overs at The Marian.
That score proved more than enough to win as Mold were all back in the pavilion for 174, Thomas North 59 and skipper Isaac Allen 39, Rumman Ahmed 4-43 and Jaco Oosthuizen 2-28 for the home team.
Halkyn (15) 155-0 Conwy 2nd XI (0) 154-7
Much-improved Halkyn hauled themselves further away from the drop-zone with a 10-wicket victory – quite a rare winning margin within the league – at Pant Newydd.
Visitors Conwy decided to bat and were limited to 154-7, Evan Williams 38 and Calum Jones 36, Alex North 3-21 for the home side.
Halkyn openers Nabeel Khan (88 not out) and Ben Roberts (54 no) then steered Halkyn to 155-0 in 35.1 overs and a 15-0 points verdict.
Hawarden Park (11) 126-10 Pontblyddyn (4) 108-10
Bowlers on top at Moor Lane, where Hawarden won a low-scoring affair.
Park were all back in the hutch for 126, skipper Campbell Marr a crucial 39, Gethin Thomas taking 3-15, Ryan White 3-19 and Dave Evans 2-27 for Pont.
The visitors then collapsed to 109 all out, Chris Myles a defiant 53, Tom Wilson 3-34, Michael Wootton 2-5, Ian Martin 2-11 and Evan Shaw 2-23 for the winners.
PREMIER DIVISION
Bangor (2) 113-10 Gresford (13) 114-4
Simon Perry took a magnificent 6-23 as Gresford chalked up an impressive six-wicket win at Ty Newydd.
Perry returned the second best figures of his career, bettered only by the 8-12 he picked up in a win over Llanrwst back in 2015.
Bangor won the toss and decided to bat, but were sent packing for just 113, Smit Parekh 44, Perry’s best of the season analysis well backed by 3-31 from Chris Ellwood.
Gresford ended on 114-4, skipper Matthew Thompson (31 not out) and Daniel Williams (25 no) guiding them home with an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 67, Owen Reilly 3-43 for the hosts.
Brymbo (13) 148-4 Denbigh (2) 144-10
Opener Chris Taylor top-scored with 73 as Brymbo romped to a six-wicket home triumph over Denbigh.
Put into bat, the visitors were all out for 144, skipper Harrison Jones 39 and Ranija Abeysinghe 35, Sam Aplin 2-18, Daniel Parry 2-20, Mohamed Nilam Jayman 2-21 and Jack Williams 2-26 for the Steelmen.
Brymbo replied with 148-4, Aplin making 32 in an opening stand of 88 with Taylor, who has hit seven half-centuries in the Premier this season and has notched 671 runs, just 20 behind his total last season.
Gwersyllt Park (1) 143-10 Mochdre (14) 242-8
Mochdre were crowned Premier Division champions for the first time after a crushing win at Gwersyllt.
The visitors decided to bat and slumped to 16-3 and 66-5, but Adam Campion was there holding things together and went on to make 94, receiving fine support from Sam Davies (41) in a final score of 242-8 off 50 overs..
Daniel Jones took 3-63 and Venumadhav Peram 2-20 off 10 for the hosts.
In reply, Gwersyllt were sent packing for 143, Daniel Jones 37, Marcus Mangiameli gathering 3-26, Owen Davies 3-30, Campion 2-30 and Matty Humphreys 2-36.
Coverage of Mochdre’s achievement in more depth was published by Grassroots North Wales last Saturday.
Llandudno (2) 213-8 Northop (13) 282-8
Andrew Oates cracked a first team best 80 not out in Northop’s victory at The Oval.
Number eight bat Oates did most to rescue the visitors’ innings, which stood at a shaky 95-6 after they had won the toss and elected to bat.
The Flintshire side finished up with 282-8 off 50, Oates’ knock coming off just 72 balls and including nine fours and three sixes.
Jordan Evans added 42 and David Foulkes 30, Jamie Grimshaw 2-34 for Tudno.
In response, the hosts were limited to 213-8, Tom Bleasdale, who has hit three tons for the seconds this season, shining for the firsts with 67, Divya Pratap Singh 37, Bart Ryan-Beswick 3-37 for the winning team.
St Asaph (11) 158-10 Menai Bridge (4) 147-10
Asaph’s Danny Ryan claimed 4-30 and Ryan Dunning 3-30 to halt Menai Bridge’s victory charge in a close-fought contest at Elwy Park Grove.
Nathanael Scott topped the chart with 52 as Saints were dismissed for 158, Dan Evans 37 and skipper William Ryan 31, Ashley Wood a brilliant 5-22 off 10 for the islanders, Matthew Jones 2-9.
Bridge were always in with a shout but ended up being bowled out for 147, Robbie Jones 43, Danny Ryan and Dunning with the best figures, while Dan Evans scooped 2-23 off 10.
DIVISION TWO
Gresford 2nd XI (14) 183-8 Bangor 2nd XI (1) 95-10
Skipper Sam Burke scored a half-century and took four wickets for Gresford in a great all-round performance in his team’s resounding victory.
Put into bat, Gresford seconds chalked up 183-8 from 40 overs, opener Burke 51, Tomos Roberts 36 and David Baker 33, Sohaib Khan 3-31 and David Flynn 3-32 for Bangor.
The Citizens were blitzed out for just 95, Burke 4-24, Tom Williams 2-1 and Jack Bunkell 2-16.
Marchwiel and Wrexham (4) 130-8 Carmel and District (11) 154-7
Leaders Marchwiel and Wrexham suffered yet another blip in what looks no longer like a procession to the title, with Mochdre 2nd XI now breathing down their necks.
The Wrexham side had their once mammoth lead cut to 11 points as they lost at home to Carmel.
The visitors set 154-7, skipper Ben Sim and Ryan Roberts both 33, Jonathan Fisher 32 not out and Jeivishnu Prithivaraj 31, Gareth Evans 4-19 and Scott Lawrenson 2-31 for the hosts.
Carmel’s bowlers then kept a tight rein on the home batting, limiting them to 130-8.
Sim grabbed 2-17 while the evergreen Dafydd Timothy took an impeccable 2-22 off eight to reach 1,991 career wickets. With just four games left, can he make the magical 2,000 this term? Or might it be next season.
More important to Dafydd will be the fact Carmel earned a great win, Marchwiel and Wrexham’s best bat Muhammad Ghufran with 53.
Menai Bridge 2nd XI (2) 135-6 St Asaph 2nd XI (13) 197-4
David North made a commanding 61 as Saints put together a winning score at Tyn-y-Caeau.
All-rounder North shared in an opening stand of 91 with Ankush Upadhyaya (32), while Elliot Goddard was 35 not out as the visitors concocted 197-4 off 40.
Menai could only muster 135-6 in response, Dyfrig Jones 41, Goddard 2-25 and Iwan Roberts 2-26 for the winners.
Mochdre 2nd XI (14) 94-2 Llanrwst (1) 91-10
Second-place Mochdre seconds removed Llanrwst for just 91, Munim Khan 3-6 off eight, Adam Jones 2-16, Kyle Brown 2-24 and Alex J Davies 2-26.
Scott Roberts then cracked 12 fours in his unbeaten 66 as the hosts breezed to 94-2 in 17.1 for a 14-1 split.
Pontblyddyn 2nd XI (1) 154-10 Bersham (14) 254-7
Santhu KJ hit 86 not out off just 64 deliveries, cracking nine fours and five sixes in Bersham’s huge effort of 254-7 at Alder Meadow.
Anirush Menon and Shins Varghese both added 43 for the away side, as well as Rathnayaka Mudiyanselage Shanka posting 31, Gareth Jones 3-42 and Dylan Pearn 2-16 for Pont.
Pont were all out for 154, Jack Deary 46, Nilanka De Silva 2-10 and Channupalli Sanjeevareddy 2-14 for the visitors.
DIVISION THREE
This division’s reports featured in Grassroots North Wales on Friday.
DIVISION FOUR
Bersham 2nd XI (15) Carmel and District 2nd XI (-15)
Carmel 2nd XI conceded
Corwen 2nd XI (0) 171-10 (Rob Storey 67, Caitlin Rooney 3-19, Anthony Morris 2-2, Brandon Williams 2-2)
Marchwiel and Wrexham 2nd XI (15) 290-2 (Nick Husbands 117 not out, Mike Lee 75 no, Ted Probin 32, Storey 2-41)
Hawarden Park 3rd XI (13) 170-5 (Jo Robinson 70, Iwan Parry 2-29)
Dolgellau 2nd XI (2) 110-4 (Tomos Slattery 50 retired not out, V Kumar 2-11)
Llanrwst 2nd XI (0) 75-10 (Osian Murray Williams 3-7, David O’Neill 2-10)
Abergele 2nd XI (15) 229-6 (Jismon Ty 100 not out – 52 balls, 11 fours, six sixes; David Holmes 78, Elliott Mutch 3-11)