Talybont Rachels breathed new life into the championship race by inflicting a first defeat of the season on Tywyn at Cae Rhianfa.
Talybont Rachels (211-8) beat Tywyn (240-4) on revised target, Fine & Country West Wales Conference
Tywyn skipper Dave Jenkins called correctly, and chose to bat, a tactic which has paid rich dividends for his team of late.
For the visitors, Zed Khan provided pace at one end, and Farhan Jahangir spin at the other. Khan, in his first match of the season, was the first to strike, with Dave Jenkins being caught behind for 8 by Rhodri Lloyd-Williams with the score on 23.
The same bowler took a return catch to dismiss Joe Williamson for 16 just as the batsman was looking to push on. Jack Williamson and Morgan Yorke have put on a colossal amount of runs together of late, and Yorke once again looked in fine form.
It took a special catch indeed by Lloyd-Williams to get rid of the left-hander for 16 and give Khan his third wicket.
Williamson started to unfurl his trademark drives in the company of Nicki Williams, and the pair had put on 50 before Bava Vasu unveiled one of his trademark yorkers to bowl Williams.
Tywyn were lucky to have the talented strokemaker Sion Francis coming in at six, and the rest of the innings belonged to him and Williamson, as they treated the secondary bowlers with impunity. The left-handed Francis splitting or clearing the field regularly.
The two batsmen were unbeaten as the innings closed, Williamson with an unusually circumspect 72, and Francis a dominant 75. Khan took 3-27 and Vasu 1-46.
Whilst the teams were taking tea, the skies opened, and the second innings was delayed. When the weather relented, five overs had been lost, and Talybont Rachels needed 211 runs in 35 overs to win.
Fortune favoured the side batting second, no doubt, but the runs had to be made, and Joe Williamson put a spoke in the wheel by bowling Vinod Matthew early for 6.
Ayush Sharma set about the bowling immediately, and with Graison John dropping anchor, the pair took the score to 79. Alas for Sharma, he was caught and bowled two short of his 50 in the 14th over. John had given the innings the required base, but Francis managed to sneak one past him to scatter his stumps as he reached 14.
Khan showed trademark aggression in hitting a quick 26, but the spin of Jack Williamson deceived him with the score on 143.
No batsman was afforded the time to settle in, and the rest of the innings saw runs interspersed with wickets as the target came tantalizingly in sight.
Jahangir and Sumesh Anthony fell to Sam Williams, and Jack Williamson bagged a brace of Abrahams, Phil and Joel. At 198-8, and overs running out, the game was once again in the balance.
Lloyd-Williams is invariably unflustered, and at no time did he play as if losing was an option.
The Talybont Rachels team is the Manx cat of the league, as with Vasu coming in at no 10, there is no tail. The target was reached with two overs to spare, the weather probably facilitating the victory. Jack Williamson took 3-45, Sion Francis 2-28, Sam Williams 2-37 and Joe Williamson 1-23.