Aberaeron (193 all out) beat Talybont/Rachels 2nd (160 all out) by 33 runs

Fine and Country Conference West Wales Conference A SWELTERING afternoon at Aberaeron school fields gave rise to an excellent battle which saw the home side come out on top.

Aberaeron skipper Hywel Rees had no hesitation on choosing to bat, and despite missing several regulars, showed faith in his batsmen.

He must have had doubts by the second over, as Alex Pitchford was adjudged leg-before to a full ball by Ijaz Mohamed.

Rees himself came in next to join David Floyd, with both batsmen taking care to play straight against Ijaz and Milton John.

The occasional short ball was pounced upon by Floyd as he pulled the ball savagely.

Nevertheless, the bowlers edged the first 15 overs, the score being 45.

Rees had shown his class with two elegant boundaries to leg, one being a flick over square leg, and the other a classical on-drive.

However, in attempting to clear extra-cover, he skied the ball, and John took a textbook catch over his shoulder to dismiss Rees for 17.

Floyd was joined by Trewella, and the two batsmen showed how to mix power and placement, Trewella soon clearing the legside boundary with impunity, and gaps starting to appear in the infield with Floyd’s timing.

They put on 95 at a healthy rate, and at 148-2 in the 30th over, maximum points looked more than likely. Talybont/Rachels fought back in the field, though, as a series of batsmen holed out trying to hit out.

Sagar was rewarded for keeping the ball up to the bat with the wickets of Floyd for 63, caught at mid-off by John, and Trewella at deep midwicket going for his 50 and fifth 6. The latter was well caught by Jestus Jerry.

The innings then rather subsided, Jamie Davies giving Sagar his third victim in driving to the ever-ready John, and Kevin Regan being bowled by Ijaz.

Ifan Rishko played the shot of the day, a magnificent straight six which scattered the spectators.

He was bowled by Anant for 13 attempting a similar shot, and Morgan Ashton became Sagar’s fourth victim in a similar way. Jenkinson and Huw Rishko were also bowled by Anant to bring the innings to a close on 193 in the last over, Doug Whittaker remaining unbeaten. Sagar took 4-51, Anant 3-28, Ijaz 2-36 and Jerry 1-33.

After a splendid tea provided by the hosts, Talybont/Rachels had hopes of chasing the total down, but these were dented when Sumesh Antony drove uppishly at Trewella and the catch was easily pocketed by Regan.

Sagar showed the same aggression with the bat as he had with the ball, playing the slog-sweep at every opportunity, attempting to knock Rees and Trewella off their lengths.

With Anant at the other end showing immaculate judgement and technique, the contrasting styles was making field-setting very difficult as the scoring rate increased. Anant’s deft glances and judging of a run showed him to be ideally suited for a chase, but Doug Whittaker’s introduction proved vital, as he took the pace off the ball.

Anant cut a wide delivery to Pitchford at point with his score on 28. This produced a catastrophic collapse, Rishko bowling Jerry and then taking a return catch off Ijaz. Whittaker persuaded Talybont/Rachels skipper Anup Menon to attempt a drive, but the ball soared straight up and Jenkinson calmly took the catch at slip.

To compound matters, Sagar swung once too often at Whittaker and was bowled four short of a 50.

With the deficit just over 90 and six wickets down, the pendulum had swung to Aberaeron. Huw Chambers joined Mudit Bohra, and both chose to rebuild and frustrate the bowlers. They also showed the importance of rotating the strike and hard running.

Bohra started hitting out to the leg side, and Morgan Ashton varied his length to counter his aggression.

The pair had put on 54, and the target was less than 40 when fate intervened in an extraordinary manner.

Lady Luck had not really smiled on the bowling side, but Bohra unleashed a ferocious straight drive at Trewella which was destined for the boundary.

To his horror, the ball struck his partner on the forearm and flew to the alert Ashton at mid-on, a quite astonishing turn of events.

The downcast Bohra had made 26. To add insult to injury, the discomforted Chambers was caught the next over by Floyd off Ashton.

Hywel Rees then returned to the attack to dismiss Joshua and Jino. The final total was 160. All the Aberaeron bowlers contributed, Whittaker taking 3-27, Rees 2-28, Trewella 2-37, Rishko 2-41 and Ashton 1-17.

The game was more finely balanced than the scoreboard might state, but justice was probably done in the end. Aberaeron took 19 points, Talybont/Rachels 2nds 9 points.