PRESTATYN closed out their reduced summer of friendly fixtures with an eight-wicket home defeat at the hands of Llanrwst.

The Liverpool and District Competition side were unable to travel to Cheshire and the North West due to coronavirus restrictions, leaving them testing their skills against other cricket teams from the North Wales region to at least ensure they got some play in from a hugely disrupted few months.

They were unable to go out on a high at Beach Close thanks in no small part to a tremendous performance in the field from the Rwsters’ that left them all out on 111.

Things did not begin well for the home side as talented opener Rohit Kaimal was run out for a duck, and he was swiftly followed back to the pavilion by Isaac Sheridan after he was caught off a Lee Thomas delivery on nine.

Another miscommunication in the middle prevented Sheil Sethi from posting a big score when he was also run out on 27, with Nauman Ahmad barely reaching double-figures before he was trapped lbw by Atif Qureshi after making just ten.

Andy Taylor unbeaten knock of 32 was the undoubted highlight late on as they ended their allotted 40 overs on 111-9.

Qureshi was the pick of the visiting bowling attack, claiming three wickets for the loss of just 12 runs from a sensational eight-over spell.

The home side’s run defence got off to a positive start when Adam Tidswell removed Llanrwst skipper Scott Thomas for 12, and the bowler also trapped veteran Nathan Jones lbw for a duck soon after to end the innings with figures of 2-31.

Any hopes Prestatyn had of pulling off an unlikely success were thwarted by an outstanding contribution from Qureshi, who demonstrated his exceptional 68 not out to lead his side to glory.

He was aided at the other end by Jack Williams, who also finished unbeaten on 28 to ensure the away side reached their required targets after 16 overs.