It was a busy week of Cup action in the Willow League this past week, with Cup holders South Glamorgan Education in action twice.
In the preliminary round they faced Cardiff University Staff. Batting first, Staff made a good start with both Simon Wallis (40) and Sneteshas (44) reaching the competition retirement mark, once this pair had departed runs were harder to come by and Staff closed on 140-3. The Education reply was anchored by Jack Lansdown (32) and Nick Allen (42no) as Education reached the target with 2 overs a 6 wickets to spare, thanks in part to some wayward Staff bowling (20 wides).
This saw education through to a Quarter-final match up with Cardiff Bay Barbarians. Batting first Education rattled up 161 for the loss of 3 wickets, Linden bagging a brace for the Barbarians. T Bailey top scored with 40no, with Jack Lansdown adding 33no. In reply, Barbarians were shot out for 97, with only Darren Mogridge (40no) able to make any real impression on the bowling. Tim Wegener (3-6) and Neil Francis (2-10) were the most successful bowlers, with Jack Lansdown adding 1-0 in his 2 over spell.
Elsewhere Cardiff Cavaliers managed to squeeze by Consmen for the first time in any Willow League competition to claim their semi final spot. Nick Hutchings and G Chapman both reached the retirement mark of 40 as Cavaliers posted 165-6. For Consmen J Crowe (29) and M Davies (24no) led the way, but wickets kept tumbling with both Dave Parsons and Jimmy Marchant grabbing two as Cavaliers restricted Consmen to just 115-9.
Rhiwbina faced Sevenoaks HiFi, and were given a good start by Ashleigh Crowter (42 ret) on their way to a total of 143-4. Alistair Collyer (40 ret) and Simon Elliot (37) gave the Sevenoaks reply a flying start, but once this pair had departed, Rhiwbina’s bowlers took charge, choking off the runs as Sevenoaks closed 10 runs shy.
The final match saw GE Healthcare take on Cardiff Casuals. Invited to bat GE Healthcare struggled for runs early on raising 41 for the first wicket with Gordon Stephenson hitting 15 and Lee Gibbs 14, the Casuals attack continued to keep the run rate low as GE closed on just 69-3. Dave Powell (2-4) grabbed two wickets in two balls to leave Casuals reeling at 13-2 but a solid unbroken partnership between Manesh Hirani (23no) and Dan Lewis (19no) saw casuals home comfortably.
The semi finals see Casuals meet Cavaliers and Rhiwbina play South Glamorgan education.