LLANDUDNO 272-4

ST ASAPH 159

A TERRIFIC ton from Daniel Evans made sure it was a losing weekend for St Asaph under the blazing sun at Llandudno.

Evans was the star of the show during the first half of the North Wales Cricket League Premier Division contest, hitting a brilliant 107 as the home side made an imposing 272-4.

While the tail wagged for St Asaph, the damage had already been done during the early portion of their reply and they ended up some 13 runs short of picking up a point from their efforts.

Looking to avenge a heavy opening day loss at Elwy Grove Park, Llandudno opted to make first use of the batting track at The Oval after skipper Jack Rimmington won the pre-match toss.

What a sound decision this turned out to be, with Llandudno taking control of proceedings pretty much from the off.

Openers Matty Jones and Daniel Evans set the ball rolling in good fashion for the hosts courtesy of an opening stand of 51.

This was brought to an end when youngster Jones was caught behind by Nathanael Scott off the bowling of Duncan Midgley (1-11) for 20.

That was to be the solitary bright spot from the perspective of St Asaph for quite some time.

Keegan Armstrong strode to the crease and he put together a 156-run stand for the second wicket alongside Evans.

This took the Llandudno total beyond the 200 mark and there was finally some relief for St Asaph when opener Evans was bowled by Danny Ryan for a brilliant 107.

Armstrong would eventually depart the crease for a well-made 89, becoming the next victim of Danny Ryan (2-54).

Quickfire efforts from Kevin James (26 not out) and Sam Rimmington (18) helped to push the Llandudno total up to an impressive 272-4 by the time the 50 overs were up.

Jason Foulkes (1-61) bagged the remaining wicket to fall.

St Asaph will have been eager to see a positive start to their response after tea.

Mathew Ryan and Nathanael Scott had put together an opening stand of 25 by the time the first wicket fell.

It was Scott who departed for 12 when he was dismissed by batting hero Daniel Evans.

Just a further five runs had been added to the tally when the next wicket fell.

Evans was at it again to dismiss opener Ryan for 12.

The Saints never really recovered from losing these two wickets, despite the best efforts of skipper Will Ryan.

He did compile a third wicket stand of 31 with Duncan Midgley, who would depart the crease for a quickfire 23.

With Ryan solid, St Asaph managed to reach 80-3, but a flurry of wickets then followed as the visitors collapsed to 95-8.

Staring down the barrel of a hefty reverse, the final two wickets yielded in excess of 60 runs as St Asaph's tail battled away.

Andrew Bellis added 12 to the tally batting at number 10, while captain Ryan was the last man out after top scoring with 67.

The innings drew to a close in the 38th over, with St Asaph being bowled out for 159.