DENBIGH 133

BANGOR 134-1

IT was always going to be a tough ask for Denbigh to achieve a weekend win.

The Ystrad Road side's latest contest was a home encounter with Bangor, who are the favourites to take this season's North Wales Cricket League Premier Division crown.

It was the Gwynedd outfit who ultimately took the spoils to strengthen their position at the top of the standings.

Most things went in Bangor's favour on the day, including the fact that they won the toss.

The decision of visiting skipper Gareth W Edwards was that he fancied spending the early portion of the afternoon in the field.

There was a solid enough start from Denbigh's perspective, with openers Gerallt Lyall and Harrison Jones putting together a 27-run stand.

This partnership drew to a close when Lyall was caught by Robert Marshall off the bowling of Christopher Dawson for 11.

Only a further 10 runs had been added to the tally when Denbigh lost their next wicket, while the dismissal of Stuart Griffiths left the hosts on 48-3.

Recovery was in the offing as Daniel Nixon joined skipper Harrison Jones at the crease.

The duo put together a 43-run stand for the fourth wicket, during which Jones reached his half-century.

However, this partnership came to a halt when Jones was run out for a fine 56.

Nixon scored 10 before he was the fifth batsmen out and Bangor then took full control to reduce their hosts to 110-8.

Gethin Williams (10 not out) and Ifan Jones (11) did improve Denbigh's mood towards the end of the innings, but Bangor will have been satisfied to dismiss their hosts for 133 in the 47th over of the innings.

Nadeem Rehman was the top performer with the ball and he finished up with a 4-29 return from 11.5 overs.

The remaining wickets to fall were shared by Franco Kasner (2-26), Owen Reilly (2-31) and Christopher Dawson (1-28).

Denbigh could have done with an early wicket when it was their turn to take to the field after tea.

However, Bangor went on to enjoy a promising start to their chase.

Owen Reilly and David Winter put together an opening partnership of 35, before the latter was bowled by Jack Griffiths for 24.

That was to be the solitary bright spot for the hosts, though, as an unbroken partnership of 99 saw Bangor through to a winning 134-1 in the 39th over.

Doing the damage with the bat were Nadeem Rehman (51 not out) and Owen Reilly (48 not out) as Bangor picked up 14 of the 15 points that were available.