ON Saturday, Dinas Powys Cricket Club's 1st team looked to keep their recent good form rocking when they hosted Machen.

After last week's rain-fuelled shenanigans at Ebbw Vale, Dinas captain Nathan Piddock was hoping for an quiet week. However, this wasn't to be the case when on Thursday evening, travellers took ownership of Bryn-y-Don, meaning that the ground could not be used which therefore put the fixture in serious jeopardy.

Thankfully the council’s ground at Wenvoe was available and with the leagues permission Dinas and Machen travelled to Wenvoe to play their Glamorgan and Monmouthshire Division 3 league game.

Piddock won the toss and elected to have a bowl. Through Bussell and Clarke, Dinas started steadily with no great luck until Bussell made the breakthrough with two quick wickets, leaving Machen 22/2.

A solid partnership took the score to 63 before back to back wickets left Machen at 64/4, with Bussell finishing with excellent figures of 3/24 from his nine overs.

At drinks, Machen had moved on to 93/4 thanks to some blows from opener Caddy (36) and Thomas (21). After a chat over drinks, Dinas turned the screw straight away.

Firstly through two wickets in three balls from 15 year old Jack Thomas (2/20) and then from skipper Piddock, who took four quick wickets to finish on match figures of 4/29 from 8.2 overs and reduce Machen to 125 all out.

Before tea, Dinas openers Gordon Hannah and Brychan Tudor had 15 potentially tricky overs to face. However, this was not to be the case with Hannah carrying on from where he left off last week, crashing nine boundaries on his way to a run-a-ball 50, reaching his half century on the stroke of tea, with the score sitting pretty on 74/0.

After the usual exceptional tea provided by Ruth Clogg, Hannah and Tudor strode to the middle hoping to finish things without any casualties. This was not to be, as Hannah fell in the first over after tea for a very well played 52.

The in form Matthew Todd-Bennett joined Tudor at the crease and continued his fine form as Dinas cruised to a nine wicket win, with Todd-Bennett finishing on 25 and Tudor on a patient but well made 36 to lead Dinas 1st XI to three wins in a row.

The 1sts entertain Llantwit Fadre next week at home, hoping that the newest residents at Bryn-y-Don have peacefully vanished.

The 2nd’s made the short trip to Burnham Avenue in Sully where they faced a Centurion’s XI that was in fact made up of only nine bodies.

With points at stake skipper Ford elected to bat on winning the toss. With only nine men in the field, runs came at a decent lick albeit with the loss of a couple of wickets.

Preston though batted well for his 56 before falling. At 103-3 with only 20 overs gone, a huge total looked on the cards, but either complacency against a depleted side, or more likely just poor decision making and shot selection, saw the Villagers conspire to lose wickets regularly finding themselves five down shortly after.

A decent partnership between youngsters Hetherton (54) and Marlow though steadied the ship before a final onslaught by Hetherton and Coughtrey pushed the total to 314 all out with one ball to go.

In increasingly breezy conditions, Dinas set about Sully’s batters after tea, and whilst the home side managed to dispatch any poor balls in the lightning outfield, the wickets inevitably came, and with Dinas needing only eight, they wrapped up the game with plenty of overs to spare.

The 3rd XI faced a stern test against Abercarn 2nd XI at the Common. Skipper Red Todd-Bennett, returning after a much-needed break last weekend, won the toss again and opted to back his batting line-up by choosing to bat.

A steady start ensued with openers Mike ‘The Gist’ O’Donovan and Rob Tucker prodding away during the early overs until the former fell LBW. Andy ‘Smudger’ Smith arrived at the crease, and looked solid but was particularly aggrieved with himself after being caught trying to go over the top of mid-on.

Geoff Colley came in nursing his weekly injury – a hamstring this time and showed his experience forming an excellent partnership with Tucker until being caught and bowled for a quick 34.

Nobody else could really muster any staying power so an increasingly weary Tucker batted almost to the death before being stumped for 54, his third half century in as many games. Only Alex Vowles, cutting a more miserable figure than usual showed some resistance ending on eight not out getting Dinas to a below-par 160.

With a near seamer-less bowling attack, Todd-Bennett pondered his options (or lack of) over a heaped plate of Ruth Clogg’s wonderful tea.

Alex Vowles was thrown the ball and delivered a spell they’ve all become accustomed to with neither of the Abercarn opening batsman able to deal with his consistent and nagging bowling despite him not taking a wicket in his nine over spell.

Gareth Storey, delighted to throw some ‘pies’ at the openers, got an early breakthrough when Rhys Lloyd caught Abercarn skipper Carl Hughes at deep square leg off a ball which in all honesty should’ve ended up in the nearby bowls club.

Then a defining moment in the match came when Storey fumbled a chest-high catching opportunity over the boundary with the batsman, Martin going on to make 60 in a match-winning innings.

Finally Martin was caught behind superbly by wicketkeeper Tom Eden off Ian ‘Venos’ Coughtrey’s bowling but the game had all but slipped away from Dinas at this point. A further Venos wicket and some other tight bowling made it difficult for Abercarn but in all honesty they were in complete control reaching the target of 161 with four overs to spare winning the match by six wickets.

Next week’s matches

1st XI (home) v Llantwit Fadre - venue (Common)

2nd XI (away) v Ponthir II

3rd XI (away) v Crosskeys II