THE Aberystwyth & District Evening Cricket League knockout competition was won this year by Aberystwyth University Commoners in a last ball thriller to give them victory by 3 runs to claim the Bari Williams Cup (report below), writes Alex Pitchford.
They finished second in their group behind Pontrhygroes on run rate, which put them in a tricky quarter final, but which they managed to win comfortably, beating Talybont Rachels 1st team by 27 runs.
They then had to face Rachel’s 2nd’s in the semi-final, which they just clinched in the 17th over by taking the final wicket with just 3 runs required.
The Plate was claimed by Llanfarian. They beat the Geufron 2nd XI in the semi final, setting 141, losing just one wicket.
Regular wickets for Llanfarian curtailed the scoring and they finished on 115/8, 26 runs short.
Llanfarian fielded a strong team for the Plate final, with many familiar players from weekend cricket.
They amassed an imposing 165 total, with Steffan Davies 33*, Pat Jones 30*, Ben Willis 30* and Graham Saunders 24*.
The pressure told on Tregaron and Rhys Jones took 2 big wickets in the first over, which made the chase pretty much impossible, although Llew Hughes did his part with 33*.
The continued accurate bowling took its toll, with 2 wickets each also for Lewis Ashton, Connor and Steffan Davies, leading to 76 all out and a comfortable win for Llanfarian.
Bari Williams Cup Final
AUC 147/5 (20 overs)
Llanfihangel 144/7 (20 overs)
Omair Syed won the toss for AUC and chose to bat. Sohaib and Asad got them off to a good start before a fine diving catch by Anthony Burrell had Sohaib out for 22 to Nat Burrell. Soon after Asad was bowled by Eirian for 20.
Mo Aslam batted carefully for his 28 before being caught out off Steffan Roberts. Nauman managed a lively innings to complete his 30 with a 6. Steffan Roberts then bowled Waqar Younis for 5 and Omair was caught and bowled for 8, but Satish (8*) and Sai (12*) stood firm and scampered ones and twos to reach the 147 total.
An intense opening spell from Waqar Younis, ably supported by Zohaib, made batting tricky for the openers Matt Jones (4) and Steffan Roberts (14).
Waqar made the first breakthrough to dismiss Matt caught behind by Satish and Steff was bowled by Zohaib. Iestyn Roberts batted doggedly for 11 before a sharp stumping gave Sai a wicket.
Iwan Roberts showed all his experience, progressing well with Nat Burrell. A beautiful moment occurred when, after being mistakenly given out caught behind, Satish and Omair rescinded their appeal and Iwan returned to complete his 33*.
Ever one for a pressure situation, the bowling arm of Mo Aslam made its magic again and bowled Nat for 19. Anthony Burrell and Sion Meredith were then managing a good partnership, running well and Sion striking the ball cleanly, but Asad took a fine catch on the long off boundary to give Omair Sion’s wicket for 20. Waqar then caught Anthony (7) at deep mid-on to give Mo another.
All the while, the batting side knew that Waqar had two overs remaining.
Aled Richards and Eirian bravely faced him, but scoring was very difficult. They managed just 3 runs off the first over of his return spell and Mo was continuing to bowl tightly too. This left them needing 13 off the last over.
Aled hit a fine square cut for 4 off the third ball, then a wide followed by a scampered 2 and a quick single, left them needing 4 to win from the last ball.
Waqar made no mistake and directed a fast ball into his legs, found the pads and left no hope of a run. It was a magnificent victory achieved with honour and grace.
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