Rain saves Penarth (From Penarth Times)

Rain saves Penarth

PENARTH 1st XI were saved from a damaging defeat at the hands of Pontypridd last Saturday thanks to the torrential rain that also saw every other game in the South Wales Premier League abandoned.

This means that with four games to play Penarth sit one place above relegation and still have bottom of the table Abergavenny to play.

On winning the toss Richard Skone decided to make the most of a track that looked like it was only going to get more difficult to bat on and on opening the batting alongside Dave Ricketts got the visitors off to an excellent start.

Indeed the pair added 70 runs for the first wicket before Skone was bowled by Rob Hallett for 15.

Lloyd Smith was next in and looked to be leading on from where he left off last week with some fine shots as he pushed the run rate along.

However, from the last ball of a Hallett over, Smith played a shot which the fielder stopped despite being in contact with the boundary rope.

This should be a four, but despite both scorers signalling, the umpire did not give the boundary and Smith collected 3, leaving him on strike for the first ball of the next over, from which he was bowled by Phil Jones for 17.

Peter Docherty added 9 to the score before playing a defensive shot into the ground which proceeded to roll back onto his stumps leaving him unfortunately bowled by Jones.

Ricketts had by now passed 50 as Penarth stood on 111-3 off 35 overs. However the loss of Peter Edwards 2nd ball for 0, LBW to Hallett, and then Peter Goodfellow first ball, bowled by the same man, reduced Penarth to 116-5.

There then followed two suspicious LBWs which left Penarth in real trouble as first James Docherty, 1, and then Rob Crimp, 3, both fell to Jones.

DOWNPOUR

At this point there was a downpour that stopped play for about an hour. When the sides returned to the pitch Ricketts was determined to push Penarth to a reasonable target and despite the loss of Richard Childs, 1, run out, with the support of Mark Thomas he managed to do just that and in the process reached three figures finishing on 105 not out with Thomas on 8 not out and Penarth 195-9.

With the clouds around Pontypridd getting ever darker and being over an hour behind schedule it was clear that Ponty were going to have to get the runs in double quick time if they stood any chance of recording victory and so it worked out.

The Ponty openers of Jonathan Hughes and Matt Roberts were in no mood for compromise as they started the innings with a barrage of 4's, with Lloyd Smith on the end of the majority of them.

Although Frost was bowling well at the other end the two batsmen obviously had a liking for pace bowling and there followed a double bowling change which saw Skone and Thomas replace Frost and Smith respectively.

Thomas found immediate success as he had Roberts caught and bowled for 22. Although the two spinners were able to halt the run rate they were unable to claim another wicket and the game swung strongly in Ponty's direction.

Luckily for Penarth with the score on 119-1 off 28 overs there was a torrential downpour which left the playing surface under water in a matter of minutes and the game was called off.

CRACKER

At Penarth the rain also stopped the 2nd XI's game which was set up to be an absolute cracker. Playing Sully, one of the three clubs still in with a shout of catching Penarth at the top of the table, Penarth batted first and amassed a fine 229-7.

Jack Parkinson top scored with an excellent 88, while the ever reliable Neil Stephens also recorded a half century notching up 52. 28 from Laith El Khatib and a welcome return to the runs for Mike Hitchen, 24, made up the bulk of Penarth's total.

In reply Sully were tantalisingly poised on 72-2 off 20 overs, with Chris Mallows and Adrian Chilcott the wicket takers before rain put a stop to proceedings.

VICTORIES

However on a brighter note the rain was unable to stop either the 3rd's or the 4th's as both recorded fine victories over Whitchurch Heath.

The 3rd XI skittled their opposition for just 88 as Dave Sadler made a welcome return to cricket, recording figures of 15 overs 4 wickets for 30 runs, and he was ably supported by Elliott Smith 12-4-29 and stand in skipper Steve Newman did the rest taking 2-10.

In reply Hywel Elias provided the backbone of the innings, carrying his bat for 34 not out. Despite this Penarth still managed to struggle and at one point were 42-4.

However a fine knock from Rob Cox, 29 not out, saw that Penarth were victorious by 6 wickets another timely boost in their promotion push.

PROMOTION BID

The 4th XI also strengthened their claim for promotion by defeating Whitchurch by 2 wickets on a terrible track at Whitchurch High School. Penarth skipper Alan 'Slim' Drew put the home side into bat and subsequently dismissed them for just 91 runs, Matt Birch collecting 5 wickets for just 9 runs while Stuart Lewis, 4-33, and Dave Slugg with 1 wicket accounted for the rest.

A downpour in between innings saw conditions worsen for the Penarth reply and in the end 21 from Anil Madhaven and 11 from Gareth Davies at the top of the order set up the innings while it was left to Dave Slugg 28 not out and Matt Birch with 18 not out to seal the victory for Penarth.