Nick is a one-ball winner for The Doves

 
Nick Cope is an excellent all-rounder with Cresselly Doves but he helped them win the Inaugural T20 Midweek Competition in unusual fashion at Imble Lane, Pembroke Dock on Sunday as he had to bowl just one delivery in torrential rain and it was enough to give his team victory in the final against the Saundersfoot Seasiders.
 
His accuracy in a novel six-a-side bowl-off at the end of the day, when the weather intervened with The Doves on some trouble against The Seasiders as their score stood at 57 for 5, proved decisive because he was the only player to hit the single stump from 22 yards, a task much harder than it sounds and made even more difficult in wet weather and the competition depending upon it!
 

Right decision made after rain intervened

 
The Doves had beaten the Ghetto Super Kings (from Kilgetty!) by eight wickets and The Doves accounted for near neighbours Carew Rooks by six wickets, with both matches described below – and outstanding organiser Craig Butland asked both teams if they would accept a bowl-off as the only way to decide the result on the day.
 
Butland and his colleagues from Pembroke Dock CC had worked tirelessly to cover the wicket the night before and again on the morning so that although the start was delayed a little the semi-finals were eventually under way and played in excellent conditions.
 
Then came the bowl-off and to cut a very wet story short it was Cope who took The Doves to victory, coincidentally against his former team-mates – and his skipper, veteran all-rounder Ryan Lewis, collected the trophy.
 
Danny Caine (Saundersfoot) was chosen as ‘Player of the Finals’ by Peter Kingdom. The chairman of Pembroke Dock CC but in the final analysis it was every player, umpire, scorer and club who took part that deserve great credit for supporting this inaugural T20 competition – and especially Craig Butland for his organisational skills and ability to lead others by example!







 



 

Semi-Final One – Kilgetty (117 for 7) lost to Saundersfoot (119 for 2) by 8 wickets

 
Umpires: Simon Richards & Harry Twigg
Scorers: Becky Badham & Roger Stanford

Saundersfoot were worthy winners of the first semi-final as they restricted Kilgetty to 117 for 7 from their 20 overs, and then took only 15.1 overs to reach their target for the loss of only two wickets.
 
And the defeat could have been even heavier for Kilgetty since at one stage they had lurched to 40 for 6 before an excellent 51 not out from Anthony Bevan rescued their innings as he belted five fours and four big sixes, ably assisted by Jack Badham, who had two boundaries in his 16 before he was run out from the final ball of their 20 overs.
 
Only Toby Poole, who was run out for 16 and Jack Tucker (10) managed double figures of the other Kilgetty batsmen as Danny Caine (2 for 20) and Neil Powling (2 for 22) were the pick of the Saundersfoot bowlers as Tudor Hurle deserves every credit for bowling three overs and claiming 1 for 4  as John Mansbridge also bowled a tight spell.
 
Anthony Bevan again featured for Kilgetty with the ball as he temporarily raised their hopes by bowling Gareth Edwards for a duck and then using his canny slow stuff to shift Tom Mansbridge (9) in his 2 for 13 analysis from four overs.
 
But then Danny Caine, who was outstanding for The Seasiders, was joined by John Mansbridge in an unbroken stand of 95 that eased their side through – with Caine belting five fours and three sixes in his typically powerful 57 not out and John Mansbridge struck four fours and a six en route to an undefeated 40
 
Kilgetty Batting:
Toby Poole run out 16
Jack Parkinson b Danny Caine 2
Jack Tucker st Geoff Marsh b Neil Powling 10
Ben Evans b Danny Caine 6
Jack Bevan b Tudor Hurle 0
Ollie Gamble ct John Mansbridge b b Neil Powling 1
Anthony Bevan not out 51
Jack Badham run out 16
Extras 15
Total (7 wickets) 117
 
Saundersfoot Bowling:
Danny Caine 4-1-20-2; John Mansbridge 4-0-15-0; Tudor Hurle 3-1-4-1; Neil Powling 4-1-22-2; Tom Mansbridge 3-0-26-0; Sam Franklin 2-0-22-0.
 
Saundersfoot Batting:
Tom Mansbridge b Anthony Bevan b Anthony Bevan 9
Gareth Edwards b Anthony Bevan 0
Danny Caine not out 57
John Mansbridge not out 40
Extras 13
Total (2 wickets) 119
 
Kilgetty Bowling:
Anthony Bevan 4-0-13-2; Toby Poole 3.1-0-31-0; Jack Tucker 4-0-28-0; Levi Hughes 2-0-15-0; Ollie Gamble 2-0-24-0.





 

Semi-Final Two - Carew 135 (all out) lost to Cresselly (136 for 4) by6 wickets

 
Umpires: Chris Stapleton & Neill Crawshaw
Scorers: Julie Davies & Jess Lewis
 
This eagerly-awaited local derby between two of the top clubs in the county saw Cresselly come out on top and it was great to see that both entered into the spirit of things by including players from all their teams.
 
Carew opted to bat first but lost openers Scott Richards and Haydn Shapcott cheaply to fiery young fast bowler Charlie Arthur as his three overs only cost five runs – but then Rhys Davies and his namesake Nick shared a stand of 79 before Rhys fell to Ryan Lewis for 27 (caught by Tom Murphy with two fours and a six to his name) and Nick eventually departed having hit two fours and four big sixes, caught by Nick Cope off Morgan Lewis.

It was the start of a productive spell for Ryan Lewis and his nephew Morgan, who turned in respective figures of 3 for 21 and 4 for 26 as reward for their accuracy.
Only skipper Shaun Whitfield (14) and Ashley Lewis (13) managed double figures thereafter and the other wicket-taker was ladies’ team member, who bowled Sion Jenkins in her figures of 1 for 11.
 
 Cresselly also made a shaky start as they lost openers Charlie Arthur (12) and Josh Lewis (9) to Rhys Davies but then Nick Cope and Tom Murphy shared a stand of 62, the latter eventually departing to Shaun Whitfield for 24 as Ethan Hall took the catch.
 
Morgan Lewis soon followed without scoring but his father Matthew took his place and belted two boundaries in his 11 not out – and Cope set the seal on victory with 17 balls left as his 59 not out included five fours and two big sixes.




 
Carew Batting:
Scott Richards c Matthew Lewis b Charlie Arthur 4
Haydn Shapcott b Charlie Arthur 2
Rhys Davies ct Tom Murphy b Ryan Lewis 27
Nick Davies ct Nick Cope b Morgan Lewis 46
Ethan Hall b Morgan Lewis 0
Shaun Whitfield c Tom Murphy b Morgan Lewis 14
Iori Hicks b Ryan Lewis 4
Jac Scourfield b Charlie Arthur b Ryan Lewis 4
Corey Hall not out 9
Ashley Lewis ct Tom Arthur b Morgan Lewis 13
Sion Jenkins b Ffion Ashman 0
Extras 12
Total (all out) 135
 
Cresselly Bowling:
Charlie Arthur 3-0-5-2; Nick Cope 3-0-9-0; Matthew Lewis 1-0-22-0; Tyler James 2-0-21-0; Tom Arthur 2-0-20-0; Ryan Lewis 3-0-21-3; Morgan Lewis 4-0-26-4; Ffion Ashman 1.2-0-11-1.
 
Cresselly Batting:
Charlie Arthur ct Ashley Lewis b Rhys Davies 12
Josh Lewis ct Nick Davies b Rhys Davies 9
Nick Cope not out 59
Tom Murphy ct Etan Hall b Shaun Whitfield 24
Morgan Lewis ct Jac Scourfield b Iori Hicks 0
Matthew Lewis not out 11
Extras 21
Total (4 wickets) 136
 
Cresselly Bowling:
Ethan Hall 3-0-19-0; Rhys Davies 4-0-16-2; Corey Hall 2-0-23-0; Sion Jenkins 3-0-26-0; Shaun Whitfield 4-0-32-1; Iori Hicks 1.5-0-16-1