ON SATURDAY, Dinas Powys 1st XI made the trip to Whitchurch Heath looking to build on last week's win.

Skipper Nathan Piddock won his first toss of the season and decided to bowl first.

However it was Whitchurch batsman who started strongly putting on 79 for the first wicket before a run-out broke the partnership.

After another strong partnership of 50, surviving opener Jones was LBW to the impressive Bloxham for 47.

Dinas then took quick wickets through Rizvi (2/34) and Piddock (2/29) before some lusty blows from Tibbs (71) and skipper Kristian Rogers (29no) got Whitchurch to a strong score of 214/8 from their 45 overs.

Dinas looked to set a solid platform in response, and looked to be going well until Piddock was caught well at slip with the score on 25.

Matt Todd-Bennett (47) entered the fray to join Gordon Hannah who was the dominant partner in their partnership of 41, with Hannah falling for a well made 34.

The introduction of Asad Rizvi proved vital, as after being dropped without scoring he went on the attack, dominating any bad bowling bowling on his way to a match winning 70 not out.

Partnerships with Todd-Bennett, Jack Thomas, Jeff Mitchell and finally, Lloyd Di Mauro were the difference as with 15 needed off the last three overs, Rizvi said to finish it there and then, taking 16 off the over to finish it there and then and give Dinas the win against a very strong bowling attack in Whitchurch Heath.

Dinas take the long trip to Pentwyn next week looking to make it three wins out of three in the league.

WITH 2nd team skipper Andy Ford away on holiday (during the cricket season?) Gareth Evans took the helm as the 2's hosted Whitchurch Heath 2nd at Bryn y Don. Winning the toss Evans decided to bat.

Some tight opening bowling combined with a very cautious start led to slow scoring, with the first wicket of O'Donovan falling at 31 after 14 overs.

Chairman Jason Harries joined Tudor at the crease and attempted to up the pace before departing for 12 with the score on 71, and a score of 150 or higher looking unlikely.

However the skipper had other ideas and despite tweaking his hamstring took the attack to Heath, with Tudor also starting to open up at the other end. When Evans departed for a brisk 39, Tudor kept the runs coming until he fell for a fine 86 with good contributions from Sam Marlow and Rich Morgan nudging the score past the 200 mark to take Dinas to 205-8 after their 45 overs.

Following the usual sumptious feast from Ruth Clogg, Dinas set about defined their hard earned score.

Despite good opening spells from Morgan and Ollie Coughtrey the breakthrough didn't come until Heath had 41 on the board, Morgan with the breakthrough.

Heath looked comfortable though, Lucey the in form opener getting away with one rare chance put down by the skipper in what proved a crucial moment. The introduction of young Rhys Lloyd with his slow left arm gave Dinas brief hope as he took 3 wickets (3-35), but in the end, the game closed out quickly as Heath upped the pace to win with 6 wickets and 7 overs to spare with Lucey finishing unbeaten on 89.

FOLLOWING last week’s defeat the 3rd made the long trip to Aberdare to face Cynon Valley. Captain Red Todd-Bennett lost the toss on a surprisingly damp and sticky pitch with Valley opting to put Dinas in to bat. Wicketkeeper Tom Eden and Rob Tucker opened up but both fell early leaving Rhys Williams and the skipper to start building an innings. Williams playing his first game of the season set about his business superbly, the skipper rather less impressively falling early again. Veteran Geoff Colley, aggrieved at being dragged away from sunbathing, came in to steady the ship and struck up something resembling a partnership with Williams for the village outfit. Eventually Williams was clean bowled for 26 and Colley was caught going for a big shot on 14.

Enter Gareth Storey whose patient top score of 28 could be described in similar vein as the recent Twitter hashtag #MoreBoringThanChelsea referring to Chelsea FC’s ‘difficult on the eye’ but nevertheless effective style. Mike ‘Spikey Mikey’ Lowe and Alex Vowles both ably partnered Storey until the top scorer’s patience ran out as he nicked behind. Vowles tried to grab as many runs as he could but found it difficult to score off Valley’s tight bowling and also ran out junior Nathan Waite in the process. Needing 1 off the final ball to earn an extra batting point, Simon ‘Mavis’ Wilton entered the fray at the non-striking end. Mavis, full of energy after consuming his ‘5 a day’ while scoring (albeit all 5 were bananas) prepared himself for that vital single and made it after Vowles hit out at the other end. That meant despite a trying innings, Dinas finished up with a competitive 125-9 off their 40 overs.

The teams turned around immediately so skipper Todd-Bennett starved of runs and food formulated his plans to defend the Dinas total. Reuben Mitchell and Vowles spearheaded the bowling attack brilliantly with the former claiming 2 wickets and the latter unbelievably unfortunate to end up wicketless but only conceding 12 runs in his 9-over spell. There was also 1 apiece for Geoff Colley’s ‘interesting’ off spin and fellow tweaker, Storey. Ex-skipper Tucker claimed the best haul of 4 wickets including dismissing the Cynon Valley danger-man with a terrific ‘caught and bowled’ effort giving Dinas real hope of winning the game. The skipper turned to Lowe much to his bemusement after being carted last weekend but it proved a good decision with him bowling the Valley captain with an absolute ‘pearler’ leaving the home side 9 wickets down. The buoyant Lowe and Tucker tried valiantly to claim the final wicket but Cynon Valley scratched the final runs in the last over to claim a tight 1 wicket victory. The main disappointment for Dinas was the amount of catches which were put down, even if 1 or 2 had stuck surely they would have been leaving with a win.

Next week's matches:

Saturday, May 30

1st XI away v Pentwyn 1pm

2nd XI home v Rogerstone Welfare (Bryn y Don) 12.30pm

3rd XI home v Penarth IV (Common) 1pm

Sunday, May 31

Friendly v Ystradfelte (Common) 2pm

Wednesday, June 3

Midweek away v Penarth 6pm