HALKYN 156

RUTHIN 160-0

AT the halfway point of their Saturday encounter at Halkyn, Ruthin would have been pleased to claim 12 or 13 points.

The Flintshire hosts had set the Memorial Park Fields outfit a challenging target of 157 to claim a fifth North Wales Cricket League Division Two triumph of the season.

However, a brilliant chase saw Ruthin pick up a maximum 15 points, keeping them well in the mix towards the upper reached of the table.

It was visiting skipper Rhys Hilditch who won the toss and he invited Halkyn to make first use of the Pant Newydd batting strip.

Initially, this appeared to be the correct decision as both of the home openers were dismissed cheaply.

Llyr Williams and a run out instigated by Michael Parton accounted for these early wickets.

However, Ruthin were not about to have things all their own way during the early portion of the afternoon.

Shaun Gibson cracked 62 batting at number three for the home side and with good support from Graeme Settle (21), James Beresford and Gareth Thomas (14), Northop made 156 all out in 42 overs.

Ruthin used seven bowlers over the course of the innings and the most successful ones proved to be Matt Best (3-19) and Matthew Duckworth (3-40).

The remaining wickets to fall were shared by Rhodri Edwards (1-0), Duncan Roberts (1-14) and Llyr Williams (1-17), while wicket-keeper Michael Parton claimed three catches.

Halkyn will have been keen to claim a few early wickets when it was their turn in the field after tea.

Rock-solid Ruthin had other ideas, though, and nine of the visiting players looked on as a match-winning partnership was compiled.

Openers Dafydd Roberts and Rhodri Edwards weren't for shifting and the duo put together an unbroken stand of 160 to seal Ruthin's latest success.

Roberts hit 12 boundaries to finish up on 77 not out, while Edwards' unbeaten knock of 65 included nine fours and a six.