Haverfordwest overcome Tish challenge
Haverfordwest (120 for 9) beat St Ishmaels (100 for 9) by 20 runs
Umpires: Trefor Evans & Denis Chiffi
Scorers: Jayne Cole & Wendy Bradshaw
Venue: Carew Recreational Ground
Haverfordwest moved into the 2016 Harrison-Allen Bowl Final as they beat a battling St Ishmaels side which was left to reflect on the fact that they had their chances to snatch victory – and none more so than when The Town batted first and lurched to 40 for 5 in eight overs.By the end of their innings Haverfordwest were still only able to post a less than challenging tally of 120 for 9 in their 22 overs but Tish sank to 16 for 4 and never recovered after Adam James and Gareth Davies had caused them real problems from the outset.
Simon Holliday contributed 24 to The Town cause but it was the middle-order batting of Dan Cole, back home from his studies, and Gareth Davies, seeking a first-ever Bowl final appearance, who held things together with respective scores of 33 (four boundaries) and 31 (three fours).
For Tish, the successful bowlers were Dean John (2 for 31), Andrew Palmer (3 for 35), Danny Flynn (an impressive 3 for 20) and Andrew Pawlett (1 for 30).
But a modest score suddenly assumed mountainous proportions as Tish lost Dan Richards third ball to Adam James, who also shifted Phil Cockburn and Dan Howells after Gareth Davies had removed Dean John first ball at the other end.
Peter Bradshaw (12) and Brennan Devonald (10) tried to build a recover but soon departed to leave Tish trailing on 35 for 6 with half their allotted overs gone.
Andrew Williams (24) and Palmer (18) looked like staging a recovery but both fell to the wily slow stuff of Holliday , who ended up with 3 for 18) as he also shifted the dangerous Jon Pawlett for 10 runs.
Andrew Pawlett and Danny Flynn added a few late runs but Tish had to settle on 100 for 9, still 20 runs behind as Haverfordwest moved into the final.
Cresselly cruise into club’s big day
Cresselly (162 for 4) beat Llangwm (124 for 9) by 38 runs
Umpires: Allan Hansen & Dai Morris
Scorers: Teagan Cartwright & Janice Brick
Venue: Springhill, Whitland
Cresselly made sure that they would enjoy a day out in the Harrison-Allen Bowl, traditionally played on their ground, with a comfortable win over second-division Llangwm, who were forced to chase a big score and finished up with a respectable tally after lurching to 43 for 7 at one stage.Llangwm received an early boost after Cresselly skipper Neilson Cole had elected to bat as the free-scoring Alex Bailey was adjudged lbw to Matthew Kiff after just one scoring shot to the boundary.
But Iwan Izzard joined anchor man Adam Chandler and they put pressure on to the Llangwm attack as Izzard struck six fours and a six in his 47 before he was well caught on the long-on boundary by the excellent slow stuff of Phil Llewellyn, who also bowled Simon Cole for 14 to finish with 2 for 38 in his six overs.
Chandler finally departed for 44 (one boundary) as James Lewis held on to a good catch off Andrew Harries’s bowling but then Ryan Lewis and Mike Shaw launched a boundary-laden attack where Lewis (25 not out) belted two fours and two sixes in the final four overs and Shaw supported with 18 not out (one four and a big six) to help their side to a tally of 162 for 4.
But Llangwm’s reply was soon in tatters as the Cresselly slow bowlers Shaw and Lewis tormented them, assisted by some good catching from Chandler, with Lewis staking a claim for the man of the match award with his 4 for 12 haul alongside Shaw (3 for 13).
Simon Cole and Sam Harts both claimed a wicket but Llangwm’s last pair of Richard Brock and Ollie Davies put on 35 runs, with Brick smashing a huge six in his powerful 29 not out and Davies added 12 not out so that Llangwm could at least hold their heads high as Cresselly confirmed their favourites status en route to the club’s big day.
