Newtown beaten, but Llani win

Newtown fell to a five-wicket defeat at home to Sentinel in the Shropshire Premier League after struggling to post enough runs.

Ryan Davies (31) and skipper Sam Cooke (48no) guided Newtown through to 163-7 from their 50 overs, but it was not enough as the visitors eased through to a five-wicket win in the 45^th over.

Welshpool were set 248 at promotion chasing Shelton in Division One, but eventually fell 52 runs short.

It was a decent run chase though with skipper Russell Cadwallader leading the way on 60 after the top order had laid some strong foundations.

Montgomery’s Division Two title hopes suffered a huge dent when they were beaten by seven wickets at league-leaders Ellesmere.

Having won the toss Montgomery elected to bat first but struggled from the offset with only Rob Bennett (36no) and Harry Wilkinson (22) boosting the score through to 129-8. The champions-elect achieved the win with just three wickets lost to go 47 points clear of Montgomery at the top.

Guilsfield were handed a walkover in Division Four, but Llanidloes were in the points after posting 221-4 at home to Beacon.

Gerard Owen (45no) and Ethan Owen (42no) led the way, before the bowlers did their bit with Adrian Foulkes spinning his way to 4-19 to restrict the visitors to just 140.

There was high drama at Lymore as Montgomery II lost by just one run to Shelton II in Reserve Division One.  

The visitors scored quickly from the outset and went on to amass 202-5 with Dave Jones (2-22) and Neil Tuffin (2-28) the pick of Montgomery’s bowling attack.

In reply, Montgomery were always slightly below the required run rate but got off to a good start with openers Matthew Jones (68) and George Corfield (21) seeing off the opening bowlers.

Jones came close to carrying his bat as his fellow partners fell by the wayside in an effort to score quickly and eventually it came down to the final over of the match with tailenders Neil Tuffin (16) and Tom Hughes (7 not out) at the crease.

Montgomery were on 201 – requiring one to draw and two to win – with Tuffin facing a free-hit as a result of the previous delivery being declared a no ball. Knowing he could not be out, Tuffin swung hard and lost his stumps, but still took the quick single despite his bails flying through the air.

There was then a period of confusion among the players and spectators as to whether the run should be allowed – giving Montgomery the vital tie points – but after an agonising break to consult the rule book it was agreed that no run should be given and Montgomery were back to needing a single off the last bowl to square the match.

Once again it was Tuffin who was facing but this time there was no free-hit and the same scenario played itself out with the bowler, Michael Bishton, removing his wickets for the second time in as many deliveries.

Newtown II were bowled out for 207 chasing Lilleshall II’s 221-7 in Reserve Division Two, while Welshpool II picked up points with a 42-run victory at home to Ellesmere II thanks largely to a cracking 71 from opener Mat Sherwood.