SULLY Centurions Cricket Club followed a first week’s pre-season friendly victory by producing three more winning scores over the following two weekends.

On Sunday, April 16, Centurions hosted neighbours Barry Wanderers, who played their part in a high scoring match on a cold day at Burnham Avenue.

Batting first, Centurions lost the early wicket of Dave Goodway, but this brought together Santosh Singh and Rhett Jones and they made the most of the good Sully wicket by dispatching the ball to all corners as the runs piled up.

Rhett hit 16 fours in his 103 and Santosh got 13 fours and three sixes in his innings of exactly 100 before both retired unbeaten.

Craig Brock scored freely before being bowled for 55.

Contributions from Josh Bryan (11) Ricky Griffett (26 not out) and Sandeep Shokeen, who finished on 10 not out meant that the total was an impressive 311 for 3 after the allotted 40 overs.

With a huge total to try to overhaul, the Wanderers' innings got off to a slow start, but in spite of the magnitude of the task, they gave it a go, with 67 for Hendry and 43 for Ram being the stand out scores in a total of 259 for 5.

For Sully, Josh Bryan took 2 for 36, with one wicket each for Gethin Hicks, Luke Canter and Ricky Griffett.

Sully Centurions 311/3 Barry Wanderers 259/5

Saturday, April 22 saw the visit of Pontymister and Cross Keys, which produced another victory, but this time it was a lot closer.

In form batsman Rhett Jones almost singlehandedly turned this game around, with a magnificent innings, as Centurions chased down a score of 267 to win in the last over.

Pontymister and Crosskeys batted first and after Bharat had removed opener Hobbs for 14, M Baker and J Baker came together to put on 100 for the second wicket.

Then another 50 stand between J Baker and Turner kept the momentum going, before Davey was out for a duck.

This was followed by another half century partnership between the free scoring Baker and Price.

Baker's fine innings came to an end when he was fortuitously run out by Goodway for a score of 158.

The innings closed on 267 for 6. Bharat was the main wicket taker with 3 for 45.

The Centurions innings got off to the worst possible start and by only the 10th over were already five wickets down for just 18 runs and it looked like the game was heading for an early finish.

But Rhett Jones had other ideas and began finding the gaps in the field, with plenty of boundaries as he got into his stride.

With support from skipper Jake Griffett (45) and Gethin Hicks (25) Rhett steered Centurions to what was an incredible victory, ending on 160 not out in the total of 270 for 8.

Sully Centurions 160/8 Pontymister & Crosskeys 267/6

On Sunday, April 23, the visitors were Creigiau, who won the toss and batted first on a sunny afternoon at Sully.

The Centurions bowlers were soon able to make inroads, with wickets falling at regular intervals.

Opener Solanki (36) and Thorpe, who ended with 28, were the only batsmen who were able to stick around any length of time, as Creigiau slipped to 136 all out. The wickets were shared around, but the best figures came from Sandeep Shokeen who skittled the tail with three wickets for just four runs.

After tea – following the early wicket of Patrick Lane for five, that man Rhett Jones added to his already impressive early season tally with another top score, this time an unbeaten 50, before retiring.

The other batsmen took up where he left off.

Ben Spear (33) Ricky Griffett (26 not out) and Sandeep (22 not out) saw Sully home in the 22nd over.

Rhett has now scored 354 runs in four pre-season matches, only being out on one occasion.

Sully Centurions 139/2 Creigiau 136 all out

On the final weekend of pre-season friendlies, this Saturday Centurions entertain Mountain Ash at Burnham Avenue, with another fixture on Sunday yet to be finalised.

All players should let either Dave Sylvester or Jake Griffett know of their availability.