Thirds tied match a classic

Looking for a first victory of the season, in only their 3rd match of the campaign, Usk came within a whisker of securing victory when they tied their latest match at home to Pentwyn.

On a beautiful day at the Athletic Club Ground, Usk won the toss and batted first in this 40-over fixture. Usk got of to a steady start as Tom Lee (34) and Ahmed Bapusha (36) put on 60 for the first wicket in the opening 16 overs. However both openers along with two middle order players departed in a short space of time, leaving Usk in a somewhat precarious position at 86-4. Skipper for the day, Gavin Jones (26) and Alex Thurman (24*) then consolidated well, putting on 43 for the 5th wicket. With Kris Gilling coming in and smashing a quickfire 14 in the dying overs, Usk at least set some sort of a target, finishing at 160-6. For Pentwyn the pick of the bowlers were Saunders and Daniels with three and two wickets respectively.

With such a small target to defend, Usk attacked from the off, with Tom Lee striking in the 1st over of Pentwyn’s reply. Despite this early loss, Pentwyn managed to reach 32-1 in the 7th over. The top order never really settled though, and Usk then took three wickets in as many overs to leave the visitors reeling at 43-4 after 10 overs. At this stage Usk were in the ascendancy. With a very attainable run rate at just under 4, Harper and Rosser batted sensibly to take the Pentwyn score up to 81-4 after 21 overs. Lee by this time had finished an excellent spell of 10-4-21-3. With Pentwyn threatening to take the game away from Usk, Jack Steadman replaced Lee at the Borstal End. Steadman was quickly into his stride as the visitors suffered another mini-collaspe, as they were reduced to 90-8 in the 25th over. Steadman finished with figures of 6-0-24-3, as he ripped out the lower middle order. With a further 71 required and only two wickets remaining Pentwyn looked dead and buried. This is when one partnership turned the game on its head. Smith (32*) and White (29) flayed the hosts’ bowlers to all parts as they took the game by the scruff of the neck. The momentum was firmly with Pentwyn, and Usk were looking desperate. White was then well caught by Gavin Jones off Thurman’s bowling with only 9 required for victory. Usk were back in it and things began to get very tense. Both sides had chances to win it with Usk failing to take half chances and near run-outs, and Pentwyn missing out on smiting the winning runs. With the scores level in the 37th over and Smith at the non-striker’s end, No 11 Daniels struck the ball into the covers and set off for the winning run; Lee sprinted in, picked up cleanly and sent an accurate throw to the bowler’s end where skipper, Gavin Jones, gathered and whipped off the bails, comfortably running Daniels out. Usk celebrated as if they had won the match.

A topsy-turvy game had finished in a tie, which was a fair result in a thoroughly entertaining game, which neither side deserved to lose.