Cresselly lose last game so now face a play-off with Hook
Umpires: Ryan Lewis, Toby Asson, Johnny Lewis, Ffion Ashman, Danny Potter, Lucy Johnson, Jemma Phillips, Sam Rossiter.
Scorers: Chrissie Toy, Wendy Bradshaw, Clarissa Lewis, Jade Louise Major, Izzy Hammond.
Venue: The Neyland Hub Community Centre.
Cresselly Ladies missed their golden chance of winning the Indoor Cricket League with a 100% record as they chose their final match to have an off day against Haverfordwest and Hook, whom they had beaten in the round robin, won with ease against Burton to leave both teams level on 16 points.
As a result, there will now be a play-off at The Hub next Wednesday (30th November) at 8pm, following the final league game of the season.
In other matches, St Ishmaels did well to beat Carew and Burton bounced back from their below par game against Hook to comfortably account for Neyland.
Match One: Cresselly (72 for 5) lost to Haverfordwest (74 for 4)
Cresselly missed out on their golden chance to round off the season having won all nine of their matches and taking the trophy back home as they went down to a surprise defeat against Haverfordwest team that is renowned as bonny battlers and who can beat anyone on their day.
Cresselly got their innings of to an awful start as talented teenager Ava Midgley was run out without scoring and co-opener Ffion Ashman was also removed by Awen Prysor for a duck before Jess Lewis and Meg Arthur redressed the balance with a good stand before Jess was bowled by Jo Price for 19.
Meg Arthur was then joined by Lauren Davies until she had to retire and after Lucy Johnson’s stay was a short one Meg returned but was run out for 29, leaving Lauren on 17 not out as Cresselly ended on 72 for 5, which was a solid but not really challenging score unless they did well in the field.
And it looked as if Cresselly were on target for success as they shifted Nia Williams (bowled by Lauren Davies for 3), Pam Asson (run out 10), Awen Prysor (bowled Lucy Johnson for 8) and Becky Wadia (run out 0) to leave Haverfordwest in trouble.
Jo Price was still there, however, and she found a willing ally in Lara Schmidt, originally from Austria and having her first taste of indoor cricket.
They ran well between the wickets, albeit aided by some disappointing fielding from the usually accurate Cresselly fielding, and Lara marked her debut with an undefeated 21 as Jo contributed 30 not out and The Town reached their target in a very tight finish.
Match Two: Carew (59 for 1) lost to St Ishmaels (60 for 5)
There was also a bit of a surprise as St Ishmaels showed how much they have improved by limiting Carew to 59 for the loss of only one wicket in their eight overs and then overcame the loss of five wickets to win as Lucy Patterson continued her good form with the bat to take them home.
Kate Chandler-Hall reached 20 before she was run out and Jackie Goodwin retired on 26 but Tish bowled really tightly and gave little away in their fielding, with Bethan Hawkridge (9) and Samara Hicks (3) not out at the finish against Linzi Picton (0 for 11), Lucy Patterson (0 for 13), Tracy Chandra (0 for 3), and Annie Thomas (0 for 7) as the pick of the Tish bowlers.
Linzi Picton (9) and Rachael McGuire (12) got Tish off to a steady start but Ms Picton wasn’t at garrulous as normal because she had ‘a tight chest’ and she gave a catch to Holly Griffiths off Bethan Hawkridge, who also bowled by Rachael.
Tei Tallett (3) went quickly to Samara Hicks, Annie Thomas (5) was run out and Tracy Chandra hit a catch to Bethan off Kate Chandler-Hall but Lucy Patterson was the heroine of the hour for Tish as delighted coach Johnny ‘Bap’ Lewis was really pleased, but in a real sweat over his team leaving it to four balls from the end to seal their success!
Match Three: Burton (79 for 2) lost to Hook (81 for 0)
Hook went into their last game of the season against Burton knowing that victory would secure a tie at the top of the table and they played really well to win without losing a single wicket as Burton were unable to produce their customary form in the field and paid the price.
Yet they made a good start with the bat as Bec Barton (20) and Olivia James (27) looked good until Bec was run out and Olivia had to retire.
But tight bowling and excellent fielding by Haverfordwest ensured that Burton were never able to raise the run rate in the second half of the innings as Lucy Luke was superbly run out without scoring and the innings ended with Finola Scale (9 not out) and Anna Ridge (10 not out) took them to their final tally, assisted by 10 extras.
Hook also started well with Jemma Phillips and Kacey Arran both reaching 25 but taking their team to within sight of success as Burton conceded an unusually high total of 31 extras so that only Tia Rees (0) not out needed to come to the wicket as the game ended in Hook’s favour with an over to spare.
Match Four: Burton (115 for 0) beat Neyland (41 all out)
Burton returned to winning ways in the final match of the evening as they put their experience to good effect and batted well to build a substantial score before putting pressure on the Neyland team to win by 74 runs.
Oliva James (25), Bec Barton (32) and Finola Scale (27) all retired as they ran well between the wickets and punished anything loose – and there was no let-up as Lucy Luke (12 not out) and Anna Ridge (6 not out) finished off their eight overs, helped along the way by 13 extras.
Neyland’s hopes of challenging such a big score were immediately knocked back as openers Jade Louise Major (1) and Bethany Chapman (3) were run out.
Finola Scale grabbed 2 for 10 with her accurate stuff as she removed Maddie Potter (10) and Emma Reeves (2), both caught by Olivia James, who finished the Neyland innings off by bowling Jasmine Kerrison for 5 after Bec Barton had bowled Izzy Hammond (6).
It left Burton finishing their season in style but credit also goes to Neyland for the continued good spirit in which they always play the game.
