Championship Play-Off:
Hook Ladies win with ease as Cresselly Ladies crumble
Our Player of the Match: Tia Rees (Hook)
Umpires: Ryan Lewis & Rob Davies
Scorers: Chrissie Toy and Ginny Davies
Venue: Neyland Hub Community Centre
Cresselly Ladies (37 all out) lost to Hook Ladies (38 for 1)
The eagerly-anticipated play-off been the ladies’ teams of Cresselly and Hook turned into something of a damp squib because instead of the fireworks expected the battle for the silver salver saw Cresselly shot out for 37 runs and Hook reached their unexpectedly small target in only 4.2 overs.
Cresselly had looked the strongest overall team in the league as they won their first eight games, including a win against Hook, but lost to Haverfordwest in their final fixture and Hook forced a play-off by winning their last match easily – although Cresselly still looked favourites with the likes of Lauren Davies and Ava Midgley as top bowlers and a strong batting line-up.
Tia causes mayhem in Cresselly camp
But Hook had the likes of skipper Sam Rossiter, Kasey Arran, Maisie Davies and especially Tia Rees bowling well after Cresselly were asked to bat first. In the space of six balls from the second over of the match Tia bowled Jess Rees (3) and Ffion Ashman (first ball) alongside the run out of Phoenix Phillips (3).
Even worse was to follow when opener Lauren Davies, who had looked good scoring 12 runs, was the second batter to be run out and Hook really turned the screw in support of their bowlers, with Kasey Arran shifting Lucy Johnson (2) as wickets kept tumbling.
Apart from Mrs Davies only No 6 Ava Midgley ever looked comfortable with some nice shots that took her to 12 with almost four overs to go but then she became the third run out victim so that Cresselly were dismissed for 37, something that seemed unlikely before the start with such a strong batting line-up.
Hook lose an early wicket but ace batting duo sees them through
Hook brought in Kate Farr (3) to open alongside Kasey Arran because Jemma Phillips was having a good time in Iceland but Cresselly hopes were raised momentarily as the Milford Haven sporting all-rounder was dismissed by Lauren Davies as reward for her accuracy.
But Kasey Arran already looked at her best and when she was joined by skipper Rossiter there was little doubt about where the silverware would go as Kasey showed why she is rightly regarded as a top all-rounder by racing to 19 not out alongside Sam Rossiter (15 not out) as Hook used up exactly the same number of balls as their opponents but ran really well between the wickets and punished anything loose.
And finally . . .
The trophy was presented to Hook Ladies’ captain Sam Rossiter by Lauren Davies, the chairperson of Ladies’ Cricket in the county and this correspondent would like to say how refreshing it has been to see the way in which games have been played.
Some of the new clubs have shown a real improvement and whilst there is inevitably a gap in overall strength every game is played showing mutual respect, with loads of umpires and scorers turning up to help and with Sam Rossiter deserving huge praise for her organisational efforts that has made it a competition to remember for all who took part!
Final League Match:
Burton (2 for 2) beat Pembroke (71 for 5)
The appetiser for the play off was the final league match of the campaign, where Burton batted first to reach a healthy 92 for 2 and Pembroke battled to 71 for 5 before running out of overs.
Finola Scale and Olivia James opened for Burton with 26 apiece before retiring, having respectively faced only 11 and 12 balls – and although they lost Lucy Luke and Louisa Owens cheaply an excellent 21 not out from Bron Scale and 13 not out from Anna Ridge saw them to their big score, with Tracey White as the only wicket-taker for Pembroke.
Pembroke also got off to a great start via Nirvana Thomas (18) and Jodie Lewis (retired on 26) but after Chloe Jones was run out they struggled in vain to increase the tempo against Finola Scale (2 for 10), Olivia James (0 for 16) and Louisa Owens (1 for 10).
