CRICKET: North Wales League Divisions 1-2 – Halkyn and Corwen lead way after ruthless wins

NORTH WALES CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISIONS 1 AND 2 REPORTS – MAY 31

DIVISION ONE

Hawarden Park (4) 146-9 Llandudno (11) 157-6

Saturday’s close-fought battle of these long-time rivals saw Llandudno triumph and knock Hawarden Park off top spot.
Winning the toss and electing to bat, runs were not easy to come by on the Moor Lane wicket and Tudno had to be contest with a modest 157-6 off 45 overs.
Opener Sam Rimmington top-scored with 52, while Oliver Hughes (26) and Kevin James (24 not out) put on near 50 for the sixth wicket.
James Martin took an excellent 3-21 off nine overs for the home side.
Hawarden were then limited to 146-9 in response, Philip Bradfield 29, Hughes a superb 3-20 from nine and Keegan Armstrong 2-20 for the winning visitors.

Connah’s Quay (0) 179-9 Halkyn (15) 180-1

New leaders Halkyn dished out a ruthless thrashing at Central Park, Nabeel Khan their star batsman with an unbeaten 89.
Put into bat, Quay chalked up 179-9 off 45, Morgan Duffy 49 and Joshua Clarke 31, Hammad Bajwa 3-39, Nathan Lavender 2-21 and Ben Roberts 2-25 for the visitors.
Halkyn reached 180-1 in 34.4 overs to clinch maximum points, Khan’s knock including 13 fours and two sixes as he concocted an opening stand of 119 with Matthew Towey (47).

Brymbo 2nd XI (3) 122-10 Mochdre 2nd XI (12) 160-10

Finlay Jones claimed an impressive 4-31 for a Mochdre seconds side which successfully defended a score of 160 in bowling out the home team for 122.
Invited to take first knock, Mochdre found early trouble at 42-4, but recovered well with Thomas Opie (32) and Owen Opie (30) putting on 67 for the fifth wicket.
The tail also wagged, enabling the visitors to finish on 160 all out, Brynbo’s Jack Andrew taking 2-21, while Sion Edwards and Ross Roberts both snapped up 2-27.
Opening bowlers Alex J Davies and Finlay Jones soon had the Steelmen melting at 12-4 and the slump extended to 47-6 before Jake Hughes (60) gave the home side some hope.
Hughes was last out with Brymbo on 122, Munim Khan (2-16) and Davies (2-21) offering fine support to four-wicket hero Jones.

Dolgellau (2) 146-6 Pontblyddyn (13) 149-5

Pont put the hosts in and restricted them to 146-6 off a reduced 35 overs, Osian Jones 3-33 and Vishwa Manawaduge 2-27, Lafras Van Vuuren best for Dol with 37.
The visitors hit back with a winning 149-5 off 32, Manawaduge 32, James Griffiths (23 no) and Jack Deary (20 no) with an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 53, Van Vuuren 2-17 and Sion Francis 2-37.

Gresford (3) 123-10 Bangor 2nd XI (12) 155-8

No-one reached 30 for a Bangor seconds team which set 155-8 off 45, Gareth Edwards top scorer on 28 not out, Chris Ellwood 2-22 and Tom Crewe 2-33 for the hosts.
Andy Williams then snared 4-16 off 5.5 as the Citizens sent the Colliers packing for 123, Daniel Flynn 2-13 and Ollie Dawson 2-22 for the away side, Harry Parker 28 no for the losing team.

Northop 2nd XI (1) 115-10 Mold (14) 210-7

Fifteen-year-old Louis Boulton hit 81 – his maiden half-century for the first XI – as Mold powered their way to victory at Northop seconds.
Boulton hit nine fours and two sixes in his 98-ball innings, the visitors building a total of 210-7 off 45 overs, opener Ewan Hill adding 45, Rhys Johnson gathering 4-24 for the hosts.
Northop were then blown away for 115, Leo Grieg a defiant 63, Munowar Samsodien 4-21 and Isaac Allen 2-1 for Mold, who won by 95 runs and 14-1 points.

DIVISION TWO

Abergele (14) 104-2 Menai Bridge 2nd XI (1) 103-10

Second-place Abergele made it six wins out of seven with an emphatic home success over Anglesey travellers Menai Bridge seconds.
Menai struggled to 103 all out off 38.3 overs, Edward Rooney a magnificent 4-12 off eight and Ranjith Thozhuthingal 4-35 for the home team.
Gele needed just 18.3 overs to reach 104-2 despite both openers getting ducks, Nathan Aldridge hitting 11 fours in his 52 not out and Gwil Lloyd Jones 38 no.

Buckley (12) 139-7 Carmel & District (3) 136-7

A close contest at Lane End saw Buckley emerge victorious by three wickets.
Opener Supun Eranga shone brightest with 47 as Carmel posted a modest 136-7 off 40, Jack Gibson 4-17 and Lee Taylor 2-12 off eight for the Bucks.
Chris Geary (52) and Danny Peover (33) were chief contributors as the hosts made it to 139-7 off 38.2 to seal a 12-3 victory, Amer Jamil 3-18 and Ben Sim 2-13 for the villagers.

Corwen (15) 38-1 Llay Welfare (0) 37-10

Steff Lloyd grabbed a career best 6-13 and Caleb Dyke pocketed 3-17 as ruthless leaders Corwen blasted out Llay for a paltry 37 and reached 38-1 off six overs for a 15-0 whitewash.
The match took just 25.2 overs to complete.

Marchwiel and Wrexham (0) 54-10 St Asaph 2nd XI (15) 198-7

On a day where low totals were the norm across the league, Marchwiel and Wrexham were unable to buck the trend.
Asked to bat, Saints racked up a useful 198-7 off 40, skipper David North a fine 59, Richard Aram 47 and John Ross 31, Sam Shoemark 2-37 and Sam Heard-Edwards 2-40 for the Wrexham side, who collapsed to 54 all out.
Ankush Upadhyaya bagged 4-24, Chetan Upadhyaya 3-4 off 5.3 and Tim Cloete 2-17 for the dominant visitors, North conceding just nine runs off his eight overs and collecting one wicket.

Pontblyddyn 2nd XI (2) 118-10 Llanrwst (13) 169-10

Aron Hughes (46), Nic Bould (41) and skipper Alwyn Williams (30) helped Llanrwst post a winning 169 all out, Amsh Joshi 3-20 and David Brilley 2-18 for the hosts.
Pont were all back in the hutch for 118, Dave Evans as ever proving hard to dismiss in making 32, Alwyn Williams 3-16 off eight, Aron Hughes 3-28 and Caron Williams 2-6 from six for the Rwsters.

Ruthin (2) 87-10 Pwllheli (13) 89-4

Kalim Al Baloshi scooped a stunning 6-26 and Kartik Bhardwaj notched 3-13 as Pwllheli dismissed Ruthin for just 87.

Then new signing from Caernarfon, opener Mohsin Khan, made it a fine debut with 56 not out off as many deliveries – seven fours and a six – as the visitors replied with 89-4 off 16.5.

STAR PERFORMERS 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

BATTING 🏏🏏🏏🏏🏏

Nabeel Khan (Halkyn 1st XI) 89 not out
Louis Boulton (Mold 1st XI) 81
Leo Grieg (Northop 2nd XI) 63
Jake Hughes (Brymbo 2nd XI) 60
David North (St Asaph 2nd XI) 59

BOWLING 🏏🏏🏏🏏🏏

Steff Lloyd (Corwen) 6-13
Kalim Al Baloshi (Pwllheli 1st XI) 6-26
Edward Rooney (Abergele 1st XI) 4-12
Andy Williams (Bangor 2nd XI) 4-16
Jack Gibson (Buckley 1st XI) 4-17