By Gareth Evans

AFTER a wet and miserable start to the season, Dinas Powys Cricket Club’s fortunes on the field are starting to heat up – much like the weather.

The First XI, fresh from an impressive victory over Newport Thirds, travelled along the M4 on Saturday to play Undy and Magor in a fixture not held for a good many years.

Batting first on a decent wicket, the home side started brightly and looked to be heading for a total much higher than Dinas would have wanted to chase.

As it was, the Villagers pulled the Undy run rate back towards the end, restricting their hosts to 216-7 off their allocated 40 overs.

A misery opening spell from young Ken Barlow went unrewarded, with wickets shared between Casey Hughes (1), Stuart Jones (2) and skipper Alex Vowles (3).

In response, Dinas set about watchfully, with Kyle Hughes and new recruit Simon Le Good putting on 35 for the first wicket.

But with both Wild Boys in the hutch in successive overs, the target looked a long way off and the Dinas ‘dream team’ of Jones and Olly Hurley were again called upon to rebuild the innings.

A combination of power-hitting and aggressive running between the wickets transformed the run chase, and from 35-2 Dinas raced to 175-3.

A match-winning partnership of 140 saw the Villagers within touching distance, and when Hurley departed for 59 and Jones a little while later for 82, the game was as good as won.

Jones and Hurley, the Dynamic Duo of Dinas, looked totally at ease in each other’s company and it was at times difficult to tell who was the senior partner.

Both batsmen are in prime form and their assessment of a match situation has proved the difference in recent weeks.

A quick-fire 20no from Gihan Fernando got the travelling Villagers over the line in the 38th over, for the loss of just 4 wickets.

Another win for the up and coming First Team sees Dinas well-placed near the summit of Division 4 of the South East Wales Cricket League.

Regretfully, it was a different story for the Villagers’ Second and Third teams, which both went down to heavy defeats, owing in large part to Wales’ 1-1 draw with Switzerland.

Quite how the club’s hardy football fans thought they could affect a game taking place 3,500 miles away is beyond this particular report writer, but at least they got to watch on television, like the rest of Dinas, Kieffer Moore’s brilliant equalising header.

Still, those who took to the field, carrying injuries, pensions and a fair bit of lockdown weight, did remarkably well in extremely difficult circumstances to give their opposition a good game.

In the Seconds, Lloyd DiMauro top-scored with 34 and Rob Tucker hit 22 as Dinas posted 140-9 off their 40 overs.

Suffice to say Penarth Thirds did it a fair bit quicker than that, for the loss of 2 wickets.

Elsewhere in Radyr, DPCC Thirds restricted their opponents to 207 for 6 off their 40, with another 3 wickets for Rhys Bradley.

Guy Lavery was the pick of the Dinas batters, hitting 37 in vain as the Villagers succumbed for 84.

The Dinas tail, which wagged like an excitable Dachshund last week against Machen, wasn’t quite so energetic this time around, with Mave Wilton last man out for 2.

This week’s fixtures see the First XI host Abercynon, the Seconds travel to Blackwood and the Thirds entertain Ebbw Vale on the Common.