PHOTO:
Josh Wilment and Adam James took five each for Haverfordwest
Town win a low-scoring thriller
Haverfordwest (74 for 7) beat Cresselly (71 all out) by 3 wickets
There were frayed nerves aplenty at The Racecourse before Haverfordwest edged their way to a three wicket success over Cresselly in a low-scoring tussle between two of the traditionally high-scoring teams in the top echelon of Pembrokeshire Cricket.
Cresselly were asked to bat first and did well to reach 71 all out after lurching to 46 for 9 against pace twins Adam James and Josh Wilment, who shared all ten wickets, assisted by four superb catches by wicket-keeper Huw Scriven.
It might have seemed a formality for the home side but they were soon in difficulties against Sam Harts and Lyn Richards before Simon Holliday, dropped on one, scored an undefeated 32, finishing in style with a four and big six.
James (5 for 20) and Wilment (5 for 44) had Cresselly in trouble from the outset and there were five ducks, including a second-ball of the match departure from Adam Chandler, who had scored 123 not out the previous week. Simon Cole scored 30 out of the first 45 runs and Harts, batting at No 11 belted a six and four in his 17 as the only other batsman in double figures.
Ben Field opened with 16 and Holliday dropped anchor as Harts finished with 4 for 25 alongside Lyn Richards (2 for 2) and Mike Shaw (1 for 8) - and Holliday showed his team mates how it's done to take The Town home!
Tish take Llanrhian to task
St Ishmaels (97 for 2) beat Llanrhian (93 for 8) by 8 wickets
St Ishmaels gave short shrift to visiting Llanrhian as they restricted them to 93 for 8 in their 45 overs and then strolled home to an eight-wicket success in only 27.2 overs.
Only Julian Harries (batting at No 6 and scoring 35 not out) and Rhodri Owens (17) managed double figures for the visitors against Dean John (2 for 18), Jordan Milich (3 for 22), Andrew Pawlett (2 for 35) and Brennan Devonald (1 for 8).
Dan Howells led the Tish response, after tea provided by Gill Pawlett and Wendy Bradshaw, with an unbeaten 50 that included seven boundaries, alongside cameos from Daniel Richards (14) and Phil Cockburn (13 not out) as Jack Jones (1 for 30) and Luke Jones (1 for 33) were the Llanrhian wicket-takers.
Johnston last pair hold on for tame draw
Johnston (107 for 9) drew with Neyland (194 for 8)
Johnston held on for the draw against Neyland but were still 87 runs behind with their last pair at the crease, denying all the efforts of the Neyland bowlers to grab victory.
Neyland had outstanding all-round performances by Andrew Miller and Nathan Banner to keep them on top throughout, with Miller stroking 83 (seven fours and a six) before he was caught by Dan Sutton off Chris Fitzpatrick, whilst Banner reached a fine 50 (including seven boundaries before he also fell to Fitzgerald as part of a 4 for 63 haul. Nick Koomen chipped in with 25 as Dan Sutton (1 for 43) and Chris Phillips (2 for 20) also took wickets for the 'Glebelands Gang'.
Banner then steamed in to claim 4 for 18 and Miller's canny slow stuff earned him figures 2 for 20 alongside teenage spinner Geraint Rees (3 for 14), who claimed the key wicket of Dan Sutton for 50 (six fours and a six) as Mikey Jones (12) was the only other home batsman in double figures.
Carew cruise to local-derby win
Carew (175 for 3) beat Lawrenny (173 for 9)
Carew were back to something like full strength for their local derby at Lawrenny and successfully chased down a challenging target of 174 runs to win.Harry Thomas (40), Steve Lewis (25), James Buckle (31) and Jamie Lewis (13 not out) scored the bulk of Lawrenny’s runs against Ceri Brace (3 for 38), Max Brindley (2 for 20), Tom Davies (2 for 35) and Sean Whitfield (1 for 23).
Carew got off to a cracking start as Ceri Brace (32) and Nick Scourfield (66, including seven fours and a six) shared an opening partnership of 46 and then skipper Rhys Davies (46 not out) and Tim Hicks (17 not out) shared an unbroken stand of 77 to ease their side through in 39.1 overs, with Jamie Lewis (1 for 42), Brad McDermott-Jenkins (1 for 49) and Harry Thomas (1 for 20) as the Lawrenny wicket-takers.
PHOTO:
James Buckle on his way to 31 for Lawrenny
Picture by Brian McKehon