Seasiders win thriller off final ball of the match (From Penarth Times)

Seasiders win thriller off final ball of the match

ON A DAY when wellingtons and umbrellas were top priority Penarth travelled to the picturesque village of Usk for their second league match of the season, the first being rained off last week.

The Usk wicket was covered and with the light rain play was delayed for an hour.

On winning the toss Usk elected to bat and with the second ball Mark "Jack" Frost had the opening batsman caught and bowled. In his third over he removed the dangerous Mark Tamplin who must be one of the unluckiest batsmen because Peter Ingram caught him in the deep.

From the other end debutant Martin Crowther was generating some pace, keeping the wicket keeper and slips on their toes.

After 14 overs the rains returned and the players left the field with Usk having scored 51 for 3. A further delay of 45 minutes resulted in an early and excellent tea.

After the break play continued with Ingram and Steve "Big Man" Phillimore bowling and it was the Big Man who produced a devastating spell of 3 for 23 in 7 overs with Ingram picking up 1 for 21.

Frost then returned to the action to clean up the tail, finishing with 4 for 38 in 11 overs, whilst another debutant Andre Neethling picked up his first wicket for the club.

At the end of their 35 overs Usk were 134 all out, with Penarth sensing an upset could be on the cards.

How wrong they were. After the first 15 overs the score was 20 for 1 with David Ricketts and Richard Skone struggling against the accurate Usk attack.

Skone decided to chance his arm and after a few lusty blows he was caught in the deep for 13.

A few quick wickets tumbled which resulted in Peter Goodfellow coming to the crease with score at 39 for 4 after 20 overs. He immediately took on the bowlers and within the space of five overs the score had moved on to 81.

Goodfellow departed for 22 but Ricketts was now in full flow and he and Mark Thomas took the score to 103 off 31 overs.

Jack Parkinson continued the run chase with 12 required off the last over. Ricketts was caught first ball for a valiant 49 and off the next they scrambled a leg bye.

Parkinson hit a 2, followed by a massive leg side 6, and then came 2 leg byes so Penarth needed 2 to win and 1 to tie off the last ball.

The bowler sent down a wide-ish delivery, which Parkinson left and the keeper missed. The result was 2 leg byes and Penarth notched their first league victory of the season.

Skone and the rest of the team were over the moon and they all deserve credit for sticking to their task when the chips were down.

Let's hope for some decent weather for the rest of the season.