SULLY Centurions made the trip to Ebbw Vale on Saturday and came back with maximum points after an emphatic nine-wicket victory.

The hosts’ openers, Pepper and Keane, shared a 65-run partnership before Pepper was bowled by Gareth Thomas for 44.

Then Keane and Blake shared another half century stand until Keane fell to Ricki Griffett on 25.

This looked to have set Vale up for a big score, but after this only Blake (37) and Morgan (24) got past twenty.

Thomas (3 for 59) was the pick of the Centurion bowlers. The rest of the wickets were shared, with two each for Kieron Ferriday, Ricki Griffett and Lloyd Bruce and the home innings ended on 218 all out in the 38th over.

Sully’s regular opening pair Rhett Jones and Gethin Hicks got the reply off to a flyer, with Jones reaching the boundary regularly with his accustomed big hitting style.

He was eventually out for a well-made 90, being caught by Keane off Connor’s bowling, after sharing an opening stand of 154.

This was to be the only wicket, as Hicks (80 not out) and Calum Thomas (36 not out) saw Centurions home with 10 overs to spare.

Ebbw Vale 218 all out, Sully Centurions 219-1

2nd XI: The second XI played Ebbw Vale seconds in what was possibly the most one sided affair that has been seen at Burnham Avenue in many years.

Russell Thomas and Dan Chaulk’s opening partnership reached 184 when Thomas was bowled by Tranter for 53.

Chaulk was then joined by Ben Spear and the pair shared a stand of 40, before Chaulk was caught and bowled by Pepper for a magnificent 126.

However, this just brought Jake Griffett to the crease and he was in no hurry to hang around, hitting sixes at will and sharing a third wicket partnership of 90 before Ben Spear was out for an entertaining 23.

After being joined by Mike Oatridge, Jake continued on his merry way, losing about five balls in the process (including a couple of huge sixes that landed on the beach) before being bowled by Sandeep Yadav agonisingly just three runs short of his century.

Nick Jones (40) and Mike Oatridge (24) took the score along to an unbelievable 411 for 4 off the allotted 40 overs

After tea, the Sully bowlers got stuck in straight away and Ebbw Vale were soon in trouble with two wickets down with just three runs on the board. It didn’t stop there as wicket after wicket fell very cheaply.

In fact, Ethan Jones, who hit 15, was the only batsman who reached double figures.

The final wicket fell with the score on just 53 with 18 overs still left.

For Sully, Nathan Cuddihy (4 for 15) Harish (2 for 14) Iwan Thomas (2 for 13) and Nick Jones (1 for 8) were the wicket takers in this 358 run victory.

Sully Centurions II 414-4, Ebbw Vale II 53 all out

On Saturday, the 2nds host Monmouth at Burnham Avenue, while the 1st XI make the short journey to Dinas Powys. Once again all players are asked to let the captains know their availability.