South East Wales Cricket League Division Three (Second XI) - Monmouth Second XI (140-8) beat Vale Second XI (139) by one run

MONMOUTH Cricket Club Second XI edged their way to their first win of the season with an exciting one-run victory at home to Vale on Saturday.

The home side were put in to bat by the visitors on a damp wicket that favoured the bowlers and Monmouth’s upper-order found runs hard to come by, with just Rob Pendleton (37) making double figures. In the middle-order their cause was made harder when both Barry Jones (14) and skipper Rick Parkes (16) suffered run-outs. However the 48 extras conceded by the visitors enabled Monmouth to creep to a defendable 140-9 from their 40 overs.

Monmouth got off to an excellent start as George Williamson (1-18 off two overs) took a wicket with his third ball in the opening over. Further inroads were made thanks to excellent spells from Javed Choudary (1-36 from eight overs) and the returning Luke Bowley (2-27 from eight overs) who took a sharp caught-and-bowled with his first delivery of the season. The introduction of spin into the attack saw Parkes (1-12 from four overs) start with a wicket maiden, but the game turned with a direct hit run-out from Hughes to dismiss Vale’s star man Gareth Andrews (61), who had threatened to see the visitors home. Meanwhile Gaz Hughes and Neil Saunders, who had earlier taken an excellent running catch, were keeping things tight, but Vale reached 139 with just two runs needed to win and two wickets in hand. In an eventful over that proved to the be final one of the game and with the home side’s fielders crowding the bat, the first ball saw Hughes (2-22 from 5.4 overs) secure a leg-before-wicket dismissal. However, frustrations grew as both of the next two deliveries went to hand off the bat - but were dropped - only for the celebrations to start when the very next ball was taken with a double-handed catch above the head at slip from Pendleton.

The one-run win saw Monmouth boost their league points total by 18 points and move out of the relegation zone, as they prepare for next week’s long away visit to newly promoted Barry Wanderers Seconds. Anyone interested in playing cricket for Monmouth should contact [email protected]