SULLY Centurions travelled the short distance to Dinas Powys and came away with a victory following a nail biting last few overs on Saturday (July 8).

Batting first, Centurions had a decent start, with Santosh Singh hitting 55, followed by more half centuries from Quasi Ferdous (or Pavel as he’s known to everyone) and skipper Jake Griffett. Dave Goodway’s 38 not out also gave some impetus to the final overs as Sully finished on 229 for 5 after the 45 overs. For Dinas, bowling honours went to Matthew Todd-Bennett and Jack Houghton, who took two wickets each.

In reply, Dinas recovered from the early loss of Todd and Hannah with Todd-Bennett hitting a fine 72. Some solid support from Jones (58) Wingren (31) and Harries (21) put the home side in the driving seat. However, Pavel added to his unbeaten 55 with the bat by coming on to take two wickets in two balls in the 43rd over, leaving Dinas Powys needing 10 off the last two overs, with one wicket in hand. Prashant Choudhary bowled his over for just four runs, leaving Dinas requiring five off the final over. Man of the moment Pavel bowled a maiden and Centurions won by five runs. This victory keeps Centurions in second place, just seven points behind Crumlin and they are now 22 points clear of third placed Monmouth.

Dinas Powys 224-9 Sully Centurions 229-5

The second XI, with several players unavailable, hosted Ebbw Vale at Burnham Avenue and lost by five wickets.

Centurions batted first and lost the early wicket of Terry Sylvester, but a great 93 from Aaron Emyr, backed up with 46 from Nick Jones and 20 from Jason Hicks helped the score along to a creditable 216 for 8. The wickets were evenly spread out between the Ebbw Vale bowlers, with Morgan (2/19) posting the best figures.

In reply Ebbw Vale got off to a great start as skipper Simon Keane (78) and Matthew Hall (51) put on 100 for the first wicket. And, in spite of losing the wickets of Owain Keane and Alfie Morgan cheaply, the visitors were always looking confident, with Connor (40) and Shinwauri (25) seeing them home in the 32nd over. Jason Hicks (2 27) for and Dinesh (2 for 51) were the pick of the Centurions’ bowlers.

Sully Centurions II 216-8 Ebbw Vale II 219-4

On Saturday the first XI are at home to Machen while the second XI travel to Machen to take on their second XI.

All players are asked to contact Dave Sylvester or Jake Griffett with their availability

On Saturday, July 1, Sully had kept up the pressure at the top of the table, thanks to an eight-wicket victory at Creigiau.

The home side won the toss and elected to bat first, but some tight bowling from the Centurions attack ensured that it was slow progress for the Creigiau batsmen.

Hywell Nicholls top scored with 24, but only three others managed to get into double figures and the innings closed on just 110 all-out with five overs remaining. For Sully, the wickets were shared around but the most impressive figures came from Bharat, who finished with two for seven from seven overs, including four maidens. There were also three run-outs - including former Centurion Dan Chaulk - as Creigiau tried to enhance their run rate.

The Sully reply was led by Gethin Hicks' 35 and Santosh Singh's 28, enabling the visitors to eclipse Creigiau's modest total in the 26th over for the loss of only two wickets.

Creigiau 110 all-out, Sully Centurions 111-2

The second XI played Creigiau Seconds at Burnham Avenue and, thanks to solid top order batting, ran out comfortable winners

The visitors batted first and were going along nicely, with opener Owain Griffiths reaching a half century – and at 100-2 Creigiau were looking comfortable.

But wickets began to fall regularly soon after, albeit alongside a solid run rate. Contributions from the middle order helped Creigiau to a total of 187-7 - a score the visitors would have been reasonably happy with.

For Centurions, Josh Bryan posted figures of 3-30 from his eight overs, as well as taking a catch and playing a part in the run out of Creigiau batsman Powell.

After tea, openers Russell and Peter Thomas put on 48 for the first wicket, at which point the latter was caught off the bowling of Rowlands for 24. Russell was joined at the crease by Ben Spear, with the pair sharing a stand of 71 before Spear was bowled by O’Hanlon for 32.

Nick Jones hit an unbeaten 30 alongside Thomas, who ended up on a marvellous 83 not-out as Centurions reached the required total in the 32nd over.

The win puts Centurions in fourth position in the league and right back in the race for the promotion places.

Sully Centurions II 188-2, Creigiau II 187-7

On Sunday, July 2, Centurions played host to an Australian Academy side and despite half-centuries from Jake Griffett and David Goodway, lost a good natured match by 45 runs. The Australian youngsters, who are in the middle of a three week tour of the UK, were very impressive and thoroughly deserved their victory.