DR Morris Cup Quarter Finals:

 

Murray stars in cracking Neyland win

Cresselly (161 for 4) lost to Neyland (162 for 5) by five wickets

Umpires: Dave Brandon & Richard Merriman
Scorers: Selwyn Cole & John Laugharne

A superb undefeated century by opening bat Paul ‘Minty’ Murray ensured Neyland won this match regarded as the top one in the competition so far and left Cresselly regretting the fact that they perhaps fell some 20 runs short of a par score on an excellent batting track and fast outfield, or simply didn’t bowl well enough.

Similar starts to both innings

Either way, Murray’s batting was the gem of an absorbing clash where Cresselly had a fairly good start after the early loss of the hard-hitting Dan Sutton, built well in their middle overs but were prevented from piling on late runs as Neyland fielded well.

It was a similar story when Neyland batted as they lost Gregg Miller second ball and looked in trouble at 70 for 5 with half their overs gone, but Murray already looked in top form and with Andrew Miller cannily using his wealth of experience to bat sensibly and give Murray the lion’s share of the strike they put on 92 runs, of which Miller claimed a vital 18 not out.
 

Bailey leads Cresselly charge . . .

Alex Bailey contributed 44 (two fours and four sixes) for Cresselly in a productive second-wicket stand of 71 with Iwan Izzard (five boundaries in his 32) but three good catches by Murray, Gregg Miller and Nathan Banner held up their progress despite solid knocks from Adam Chandler (42 not out) and Phil Williams (23) in a 72 partnership – with Patrick Hannon (1 for 12), Geraint Rees (1 for 27), Nick Koomen (1 for 25) and Henry Durrant (1 for 39) sharing the Neyland wickets.

. . . Before Murray strikes out for Neyland

When Neyland batted they lost Gregg Miller, Patrick Bellerby and Nigel Banner cheaply and only Nick Koomen stayed long in the first half of their innings to score 18 but then with Andrew Miller ever-ready to launch the rockets fired by Murray the innings gained real momentum, particularly in the 15th over (21 runs) and 18th over (19 runs, including a heap of wides.)

With two balls left in the 18th over, and with five runs needed, Murray deservedly reached three figures with his ninth six alongside eight fours as only Sion Jenkins, Ryan Lewis and Tom Arthur managed a wicket each – and Sean Hannon’s merry men can now look forward to another momentous clash in the semi-final as they take on Haverfordwest.
 

PHOTO:
Paul Murray salutes his brilliant match winning ton for Neyland

 

Kurtis kills off Lawrenny hopes

Kilgetty (125 for 7) beat Lawrenny (107 for 9) by 18 runs

Umpires: Allan Hansen & Simon Richards
Scorers: Hazel Poole and Malcolm Thomas

Kurtis Marsh was understandably the toast of his delighted Kilgetty colleagues as the talented young all-rounder produced outstanding performance with bat and ball to help his side move into the quarter finals at the expense of a Lawrenny side which must have been reasonably satisfied at the interval but was unable to cope with good home bowling afterwards.

Marsh scored over half of Kilgetty’s runs with a boundary-sprinkled 66 and had cameos from Toby Poole (13), Ross Hardy 22 and Toby Poole (13) in support against Harry Thomas (2 for 26), Brad McDermott-Jenkins (2 for 16) and Ryan Morton (1 for 33) as they settled on a final tally of 125 for 7 from their allotted 20 overs.

Thomas and James Phillips then top-scored for Lawrenny with 26 runs apiece alongside McDermott-Jenkins (11) and new skipper Joe Kidney (16) but tight spells from Marsh (3 for 18), Poole (2 for 11), Alex Thomas (2 for 24) and Jack Parkinson (1 for 16) had Lawrenny chasing the required run rate and Kilgetty’s reward is a semi-final tie against Whitland.
 

PHOTO:
Kurtis Marsh - runs and wickets for Kilgetty all-rounder

 

Whitland win well at Carew

Carew (132 for 8) lost to Whitland (133 for 3) by seven wickets

Whitland earned a semi-final spot after a solid all-round team display saw them successfully chase down Carew’s total of 132 for 8 with overs to spare.

Jonathan Thomas led The Borderers’ bowling attack as his canny slow stuff saw him finish his five overs with a 3 for 13 haul, supported by Iestyn Scourfield (2 for 36), Steff James (1 for 36), Wayne Howells (1 for 22) and Matthew Davies (1 for 26) – and although The Rooks had 27 apiece from Nick Scourfield and Gareth Lewis, plus 26 from Shaun Whitfield new one could stay long enough to build a big innings and it was left to unbeaten knocks from Rob Scourfield (13) and Max Brindley (12) to take Carew to a reasonable final tally but that wasn’t impossible to chase down in 20 overs on a good evening.

And that’s the way it turned out as Whitland found a batsman able to stay the course as Geraint Jones scored an impressive 55 runs in cahoots with Johnny Thomas (20),  Steff James (19 not out) and Jonathan Strawbridge (undefeated on 17).

For Carew there were wickets for Tom Davies (1 for 24), Rhys Davies (1 for 36) and Max Brindley (1 for 28) but it was Whitland who prevailed and now find themselves in the last four of this competition for winners of the Harrison-Allen Bowl and Division One champions only.
 

PHOTO:
Geraint Jones scored an impressive half century for Whitland

 

Pembroke pull out of prestige competition

Haverfordwest v Pembroke – Match awarded to Haverfordwest
Haverfordwest go through by dint of the fact that Pembroke were unable to field a team, which is disappointing in the last eight of this prestige competition!