South East Wales Cricket League Division One (Second XI) - Chepstow Second XI (237-5) beat Pontypridd Second XI (120 all out) by 117 runs, Welsh Asians (225-6) beat Sudbrook Second XI (180 all out) by 45 runs

JAMIE Rayner’s rich form continued at Mathern Road on Saturday when he carried his bat scoring 116 to put Chepstow CC Second XI in the driving seat against Pontypridd Seconds.

Rayner tops the club’s scoring ranking with 535 runs in six innings and Saturday’s score was 12 runs below his best for the season.

Although Chepstow lost two wickets cheaply, James Bostock (52) and Zak Watson (44) gave Rayner good support, sharing the strike with him once they had played themselves in to post 237-5 from their 45 overs.

In reply, youngster Lewys Jones enjoyed an impressive 5-27 with two maidens, with topscoring opener Ali Saeed (30) among his victims.

Rizan Mansoor (1-16) removed the other opener without scoring, and skipper Huw Rogers (2-35) made sure the visitors were always chasing the required run rate.

Keiran Parish (27) threatened a revival but Jones struck to end the threat and Jon Huws (1-13 in two overs) and Ed Hepworth (1-8 in 11 deliveries) saw the seconds gain some revenge for the mauling the firsts were suffering at Pontypridd.

Unfortunately there was no such revenge for Sudbrook Seconds as they fell short when chasing Welsh Asians CC’s score at a windswept Mill Lane.

Having lost players to fill gaps in the first team, the seconds paid the penalty despite some notable performances with bat and ball.

Opener Ben Supple scored 45 and took two wickets while Joe Bajjada and Tom McLaren both scored 29 runs with Bajjada taking two wickets.