Llandeilo reach Welsh Cup final after beating Llanrhian

With one ball left, Llandeilo women’s team, the Red Kites, needed two runs to surpass Llanrhian’s total.

However, Llandeilo only managed one more run and the teams were level at the end of the match.

Llandeilo Red Kites were awarded the victory due to losing one less wicket than Llanrhian. (Image: Llandeilo Cricket Club)

This was before the umpires conferred and pronounced Llandeilo the winners, resulting in an eruption of cheers from the crowd.

A rematch of the same game last year, the Red Kites went one better and avenged their defeat to Llanrhian.

Prior to the game, Llandeilo were coming off a group stage win over North region representatives Llandudno.  

After winning the toss, Llandeilo allowed Llanrhian to bat first, a decision that looked questionable as the wind was going to prove troublesome for the bowling attack.

The Llanrhian openers found the boundaries with ease and their captain retired after scoring 30 runs.

But Llandeilo bounced back as Emily caught out a batter, followed by a catch on the boundary by Gemma and then another stunning catch by Emily.

Then Gemma claimed three wickets in a row, including a catch behind by Megan and a run out for Emily which put Llandeilo in pole position.

Emily took the final wicket with a fantastic diving catch and Llanrhian ended their innings on 92 runs.

Despite having a reachable target, Llandeilo made a shaky start to their batting and lost four wickets in quick succession.

Yet Emily got into her stride by hitting 30 runs to retire, consisting of two fours and a six.

Following the loss of the 8th wicket, Emily and Elen saw out the remaining balls of the game, taking the quick singles and doing enough to get Llandeilo through.

Llandeilo lost to Premier League champions Neath in the Welsh Cup final. (Image: Llandeilo Cricket Club)

The Red Kites came up against Premier League champions Neath in the cup final.

Llandeilo bat first with Megan and Sian holding off the bowling attack, but Neath’s bowling proved formidable as runs were kept low.

Gemma and Carys managed to take total runs up to 68 off 100 balls yet this valiant effort by Llandeilo wasn’t enough as Neath only required 47 balls to reach their target and capture the Welsh cup.

Llandeilo Cricket Club posted on their Facebook page: “A fantastic effort from Llandeilo to reach this stage of the competition, a credit to the hard work and commitment of the entire team and coaches.

“Thanks to Haydn and Clare for scoring, and to all at Carmarthen cricket club and Cricket Wales for organising the finals day. A brilliant end to a brilliant season.”