Watch: The incredible performance of Wales Over-60s at the World Cup

When Welsh batsman Stuart Carpenter plundered a superb 121 as part of the Wales’ Over-60s score of 359-4 off 45 overs against Canada at the Cricket World Cup, it was not only the highest score of the tournament in India so far – but sent a message to the cricketing world, the Wales seniors are a force to be reckoned with.

On Friday, fittingly St David’s Day, they will square up to West Indies, who they beat in the group stages, in a fifth/sixth place playoff.

The Wales team have performed brilliantly at the tournament in Chennai. In the group stages they recorded impressive victories over India, Rest of the World and West Indies, while losing to tournament favourites Australia and suffering a narrowly loss to Sri Lanka.

They hammered Canada in the first play off on Wednesday, with that huge total, and have improved every step of the way in a country where they have ingratiated themselves with the locals, performing several stirring Welsh songs at local events.

Skipper Richard Harris summed up the team’s feelings, as they face their final game: “We have improved as the tournament has gone on,” he said. “A top half finish for a tiny nation like Wales, above five ICC member countries, is amazing. A huge boost for Welsh cricket. We’ve done the nation proud – on and off the pitch.”

Wales’ record-breaking victory over Canada

The Wales squad is made up of 17 Welsh players and they are quite the bunch of characters.

They include one player, Dan Pigott, who will be taking part in two seniors world cups this year – as he’s due to represent Wales in Hockey too. Dan will be going to New Zealand for the Masters Hockey World Cup in November.

There’s also one player who once held a record for extreme ironing, and another who adopted a helmet, after being shot at during a match.

Martin Powell, 60, from Swansea recalls his experience: “In 2001, I was playing for a club in Sengenydd, where I was shot at.

“I was playing really well, and I looked over toward the fielders on the offside, I was surprised that they were all laying down.

“The wicketkeeper told me there was a man in a window with an air rifle and because I was one of the taller players, I should get down.

“As soon as I fell to the ground, I heard the air rifle fire. It was an unusual set of circumstances but luckily, we were safe, and the police arrived a short while later. The game resumed an hour later, and I scored 100 runs, so it turned out to be a great day!”

He added: “I still came back the following week to play again, but this time, I was inspired to spend £50 on a helmet.”

Mike Davies, 60, from Swansea has been playing cricket since he was 12, but once held a unique record outside of the sport. For extreme ironing.

He said: “In 2002, I held the world record for Extreme Ironing in the Andes.

“Me and my friend organised an eight-day trek to get to Machu Picchu, it was his idea to carry an ironing board on his back and I had an iron in my rucksack.

“We were five days into our trek and reached Salkantay Trek, where we were 5,000 meters above sea level and I said, ‘This is it’. I started ironing, and my friend took pictures, and we sent them out. It was an amazing experience because we were so high up and had set a world record!”

Find out more about the Wales Over-60s World Cup journey HERE

READ MORE: Watch: Wales over-60s cricket team sing Yma o Hyd in India