PHOTO:
Nick Koomen struck seven fours for Neyland
Winning draw earns Neyland top spot
Neyland (223 for 8) drew with Carew (124 for 8)
Umpires: Dave Brandon & Dai Morris
Scorers: John Laugharne & Julie Davies
Neyland gained by far the better of the draw against visiting Carew and the 24 points they accumulated to their opponents’ seven points saw them sit proudly on top of the section table by 18 points from Haverfordwest.
Neyland made a less than assured start, however, as they lurched to 42 for 4 as only skipper Gregg Miller managed 27 before his brother Andrew (38) shared in an excellent partnership of 90 with Nick Koomen, again Neyland’s stand-out performer with 70 runs (seven fours).
Henry Durrant (16) and Patrick Hannon (21) also chipped in with runs as Neyland achieved an impressive 223 for 8 in their allotted 45 overs.
Tim Hicks (3 for 22), Ceri Brace (3 for 39), Rob Scourfield (1 for 25), Simon Wood 1-32 and Sean Whitfield (1 for 15) were the Carew wicket-takers but after tea their batsmen struggled even more than Neyland had done early on as they stood at 42 for 4 in 25 overs.
Nathan Banner led the Neyland attack as he claimed all four of those wickets in returning impressive figures of 4 for 17 in 12 overs, five of them maidens – and almost impressive was veteran spin bowler Gary Lloyd, as he opened at the other end and conceded only 14 runs in 11 miserly overs.
Rhys Davies (21) and Ceri Brace (27) joined Tom Davies (42 not out) in batting well for Carew and staving off defeat as Durrant (1 for 25), Koomen 91 for 17) and Scott Jones (2 for 8) also bowled well for Neyland.
Cresselly gain ample revenge at The Racecourse
Haverfordwest (147 all out) lost to Cresselly (263 for 6) by 116 runs
Umpires: Allan Hansen & Tony Scourfield
Scorers: Jayne Cole & Dave Richards
What a difference three days can make in cricket as Cresselly gained ample revenge for their midweek Duggie Morris defeat at the hands of Haverfordwest with a crushing league win at the same venue as they batted, fielded and bowled much better than The Town.
Matthew Morgan led the Cresselly batting with 11 fours and a six in his 75 before he was caught and bowled by Simon Holliday, who claimed 2 for 38 alongside ‘spin twin’ Clive Tucker (2 for 56).
Morgan shared in an opening stand of 88 with skipper Phil Williams (36) and there was another productive partnership of 85 between Simon Cole (46) and Iwan Izzard, who hit an impressive 61 not out in only 38 balls, including six fours and three sixes as Cresselly reached an impressive 263 for 6.
Haverfordwest needed a good start if they had any chance of chasing down such a target but Tom Murphy (4 for 25), Brad McDermott-Jenkins (2 for 32) and Stefan Jenkins (2 for 16) kept the pressure on as only Holliday (38), skipper
Danny Potter (29) and Adam James (33) ever stayed long but were unable to make really big scores.
It meant The Town lost their first league game of the season and Cresselly moved into third slot in the table as their just reward.
Iwan Izzard - blistering innings for Cresselly at a vital time
Bradshaw’s batting a real boost for Tish
Llanrhian (225 for 8) lost to St Ishmaels (226 for 7) by three wickets
Umpires: Les Hastings & Arthur Brady
Scorer: Wendy Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw helped St Ishmaels to an exciting win over Llanrhian at Llandigige Fawr but fell just three runs short of what would have been a fine century – but he would have been more thrilled by the win than achieving three figures for himself.
Ironically, Bradshaw, one of the better keepers in the county, was neatly stumped by opposite number Ben Jones, who had earlier played a part in Llanrhian achieving another big score as he scored 48 and shared in a century stand with Gareth Davies, whose masterful 108 included 12 fours and a six. Matthew Bennett was the only other batsman in double figures against Jonathan Pawlett (3 for 50), Andrew Pawlett (3 for 36) and Robbie Thomas (2 for 15) as the pick of the Tish bowlers.
Phil Cockburn was run out for 17 when Tish batted and Andrew Williams supported Bradshaw well with 41 (five fours). Bradshaw had eight fours and five sixes in his 97 and although he departed late on his side were able to claim victory with their final two runs coming from the penultimate ball of their allotted 45 overs in an entertaining battle.
High drama before Lawrenny win by one run
Narberth (199 all out) lost to Lawrenny (200 all out) by one run!
Umpires: John Williams & Dave Loosmore
Scorers: Peter Hughes & Malcolm Thomas
It was a brave fight-back established by Lawrenny because when they batted first they lurched to 28 for 4 before Steve Lewis (12 fours and a six in his 70), Andrew Cole (25) and Ian Jenkins (20) pulled them around to a challenging final tally of 200 all out in the 45th over against Ben Quartermaine (4 for 51), Ian Hughes (4 for 49), Kamal Sharma (1 for 21) and Matthew Johns (1 for 46).
Marc Hughes showed his batting class for Narberth with top score of 70 before he was caught by Rob Williams off Alistair Edwards’ bowling, with Jordan Howell supporting well with 45 against Edwards (2 for 59), Rob Williams (4 for 40) and Jamie Lewis (3 for 54).
With Ian Hughes also batting well on 21 not out there seemed little danger for Narberth with two wickets in hand but then Jamie Lewis struck with a cracking delivery, quickly followed by the final wicket, which saw Lawrenny gain what was an unlikely win at a couple of stages in an absorbing clash.
Steve Lewis - cracking 70 in Lawrenny win
James jolts Seasiders’ brittle batting
Saundersfoot (95 all out) lost to Whitland (96 for 3) by 7 wickets
Umpires: Steve Blowes & Ian Phillips
Scorers: Adge John & Janice Webb
Saundersfoot’s sad season continued as they were shot out for 96 by a Dan James-inspired Whitland side which took only 18 overs to reach their target before having tea at the end of the match.
James was the undoubted lynch-pin of the Whitland attack with superb figures of 7 for 38 against a home side which had James Caine (23), Sam Franklin (10) and Steve Cook (26) as the only batsmen in double figures.
David Dunfee (2 for 23) and Scott Newton (1 for 8) were the other Whitland takers before their batting saw Owain Evans (32), Jonathan Thomas (40 not out) and Adam Davies (11 not out) reach their target with ease despite a wicket apiece for Jack Franklin, Morgan Slate and Neil Powling for the Seasiders.