Aberaeron 220 all out (40 overs) Talybont Rachels 162 all out (32.5 overs), Aberaeron won by 58 runs

Fine & Country West Wales Cricket Club Conference

Aberaeron travelled to the Vicarage fields looking for a solid win to stay in contention for the title, having lost only one match in round 1, but still behind Tywyn who have a game in hand, wites Alex Pitchford.

There was much talk of big totals, as the artificial wicket and short boundaries have led to some high scoring matches in round 1. Hywel Rees won the toss for Aberaeron and chose to bat first, looking to set a big target for Rachels team to chase.

It was clear from the first few overs that batting was not going to be easy, with Milton John bowling with good variation and Aaron probing with his spin.

Jacob Jenkinson immediately recognised the danger and batted cautiously as he watched three wickets fall around him, including two of Aeron’s most prolific scorers.

Milton picked up the wickets of Josh Roper (7) and Steffan Rees (15) with help from Bava and Joseph taking catches. Ted Trewella (4) chipped the ball back to Aaron to be caught and bowled. This left Jacob and Hywel with the unenviable task of having to rebuild the inning from the eight over with the score on 46-3.

Jacob and Hywel progressed the score steadily in the face of tight bowling with the ball moving around off the seam until the 31st over when Jacob was run out for 69 by a direct hit.

The pair had recovered the score to 150-4 with their 104 run partnership – vital in the circumstances. Two more wickets fell quickly – Kevin Regan (1) clipping the ball to square leg and Hywel run out for 57.

Alex Pitchford joined Jamie Davies with the score on 153-5 and hopes of accelerating the score dwindling. Immediately Jamie started to time the ball sweetly, bludgeoning sixes down the ground.

Alex pushed quick singles to give Jamie as much as much of the strike as possible and in 7 overs they managed to get the score up to 219-6 when Alex was then caught behind for 9, once again Milton’s victim.

Milton cleaned bowled Simon Mitchell first ball and then Jamie was caught out on 40 (1 four and 3 sixes) and after that just one more run was added with the innings ending with the last batter run out on the last ball.

And so the Aeron team had managed to set a reasonably competitive total of 220, but well short of the 300 they were hoping for before the inning began, mostly restricted by clever bowling, especially so by Milton, who finished with figures of 4 for 47 off 7 overs.

The teams enjoyed a quick tea provided by the Rachels players, as they were keen to get on with things – everyone wanting to be finished by 7 PM. The home side certainly seemed keen to make a quick start and played very positively from the outset.

Simon Mitchell however had other ideas and in his first over had Joseph caught out by Kevin Regan at mid-off and then clean bowled Anant (8) with a ball jagging back in off the seam. Then in the fifth over, Jerry inside edged to Jacob, taking a low catch behind the stumps, to give Simon a third wicket and leaving the home side reeling on 12 for 3.

Captain Anup Menon, opening the batting for his team, was in good control, and joined by Ijaz, managed something of a recovery, taking the score to 65 before Ted Trewella joined the attack. Ted immediately struck, bowling Ijaz for 28.

This brought the dangerous Bava to the crease, but Ted gave him nothing to hit. Steffan Rees was also bowling with great precision and eventually got through Anup’s defence with a well directed yorker, bowling him for 28. In the next over Ted also managed to squeeze through a yorker to dismiss Bava for 3.

Things were looking pretty bleak for Rachels on 71-6 after 18 overs, but Rebin and Milton still looked for opportunities to score and they did well until Morgan Ashton was given the opportunity. Rebin played at a teaser from Morgan outside off stump and was caught by Simon at cover on 14.

Milton continued to play some fine shots and kept some hope alive for the home team, but wickets fell around him. Simon Mitchell was brought back to try and wrap things up and bowled Arun for 6. Morgan bowled Jino for 2 and Simon searched for the five-for but was denied a few times by a few coats of varnish and then ran out of overs, so it fell to Roper to finish it off by bowling Basil for 4, Rachels all out for 162 in the 33rd over. Milton remained unbeaten having scored a fine 52.

Milton was clearly the outstanding player for Rachels on the day. Jacob and Hywel’s partnership and Jamie’s explosive 40 certainly set up the opportunity for Aeron’s victory. Steffan Rees bowled a very economical 17-1 from 8, Ted and Morgan bowled very well for their 21-2 and 29-2 respectively, but Simon Mitchell’s explosive opening spell was the performance that turned the match and he was awarded player-of-the-match by his teammates, once again successful the Vic Fields. It was a most enjoyable game, played in good spirit throughout.