Cardiff are Welsh U13 Champions

23rd July 2013 | Mallory Gray

Cardiff CC became the Cricket Wales U13 Club Championship at the Finals Day at Newport Cricket Club.  There were four teams, the others being Gresford, Narberth and Ynysygerwn, from across Wales who had won through as regional champions.

They played a twenty-over format with bowlers restricted to four overs each and batsmen retiring on 30.  In the Final, Cardiff elected to bat after winning the toss against Ynysygerwn and got off to a good start with Mujahid Ilyas and Will Mably scoring 57 for the first wicket before Mably was out for 24 and Ilyas retired on 30.  Ynysygerwn fought their way back into the game with two further wickets to make the score 88 for 3 but David Kett, who also retired on 30, led Cardiff to a competitive 130 for 4.  The Ynysygerwn bowlers and fielders stuck to their task well with the wickets being shared around with Nishaanth Dalavaye being the most economic, his four overs going for just 16 runs. In reply, Ynysygerwn were on target at the half-way stage but the loss of Joe Lewis for 20 and Joe Williams retiring on 30 put the brakes on their progress.  Liam Rogers made 19 but Tom Bevan, with a devastating three wickets for three runs in 13 balls, saw them all out for 88 to give Cardiff a 42-run victory.

Earlier in the day, in their semi-final, Cardiff had a comfortable win over Narberth.  Batting first they posted 129 for 6 with James Meggitt and Tom Bevan both retiring.  Ben Evans took three wickets and Oliver Wheeler two, for the opposition.  Narberth then batted through to the last ball but never looked like challenging the Cardiff total and finished on 64 all out with Oliver Wheeler top-scoring with 20.  Tom Bevan took three wickets for Cardiff and Will Mabley and James Meggitt two each. In the other semi-final, Gresford scored 69 for 8 with Sam Thompson making 22 and Luke Davies taking two wickets for Ynysygerwn, who cruised to victory by nine wickets with Joe Lewis retiring on 33 and Nishaanth Dalavaye scoring 29. 

This set up a third/fourth play-off final between Narberth and Gresford, who batted first and scored133 for 3 with Sam Thompson and Zac Dobie both retiring and Ryan Williams and Dan Parry getting into the twenties.  Nathan Coaker took two wickets for Narberth who were tied down by a fine bowling and fielding performance which saw eight catches being taken.  Sam Thompson had the best figures of the day with 4 for 12 in 3 overs with Henry Soper and Toby Bellis taking two wickets each.  Narberth were all out for 57 to give Gresford a comprehensive victory.

The trophies and medals were presented to all the players by Peter Hybart, the Cricket Wales Chief Executive. Cardiff CC now go on to represent Wales at a Group Finals day at Millfield School, for a place in the last 6 of the ECB U13 National Club Championship.




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