VETERAN Monmouthshire wicketkeeper Ryland Wallace stumped West Indies opener Balwant Roy Singh for 59 as Wales battled for fifth and sixth places in the over-60s World Cup in India on St David’s Day.

The Windies managed to reach 255-7 in their 45 overs though, and then bowled the Welsh out for 173 in 37 overs, revenging a 10-run loss in the group stages, where Wales had finished third out of six.

They qualified for the play-off match by beating the fourth placed team from the other group, Canada, last Wednesday.

Abergavenny CC’s Ryland, 72, secured another stumping as Wales walloped their opponents by 192 runs, Stuart Carpenter hitting a superb 121 in a huge score of 359-4 off 45 overs, the highest total of the tournament.

Despite losing out to the West Indies, finishing sixth was still a magnificent performance by the Welsh side against all the top nations from the cream of the cricketing world.

Australia eventually ran out overall winners, defeating England in the final by eight wickets.

Ryland – dad of former Glamorgan star Mark – and the rest of the team performed some Welsh classics at a special event in Chennai to mark King Charles III’s birthday hosted by the British Deputy High Commission, including Yma O Hyd, Calon Lân and Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau.

And they not only bowled over their Indian guests with song, they also bowled them over on the field in the group stages.

Despite starting with a 168-run loss to eventual tournament winners Australia, they bounced back against hosts India to pull off a famous 10-run win, Mike Hayden hitting 49 and captain Richard Harris 48 in a total of 185 all out, with Ryland as 11th man contributing four. 

And the Abergavenny CC keeper then played a key role in stopping the Indian juggernaut, smartly stumping their top scorer Emmanuel Benjamin for 64 and then catching their ninth man for 10 as Wales took the last five wickets for 30 runs, Dave Pigott securing figures of 5/34. 

Wales then beat Rest of the World by 32 runs after piling up 257-7, John Jones making 82, before restricting their opponents to 225-9.

Sri Lanka in game four chased down Wales’ 233-7 with three overs to spare for a five-wicket win, Nalin Jayasuriya hitting an incredible 50 from a mere 15 balls to secure victory.   

But Wales signed off their pool games with a nail-biting 10-run win over West Indies, Stuart Carpenter cracking 101, before bowling out their rivals for 254 with four balls left.   

Meanwhile, although it doesn’t feel very summery yet back home, thousands of miles away from Chennai at Abergavenny CC’s Avenue Road ground, the mower was out at the weekend.

The club posted: “Avenue Road had its first cut of 2024 with the cylinder mower and a very light roll. Pre season is nearly here!”