20^th November 2024

 
Umpires: Jonathan Willington & Jonathan Twigg
Scorers: Jane Richards, Clarissa Lewis, Johnny Lewis, Ian Milsom, Lewis Jones, Gregg Miller
 
The Pembrokeshire Seniors A and B teams clashed at The Hub and it was the senior seniors who were comfortable winners to show that having a higher average age was no hindrance to their having greater skill levels overall.
 
There was also an easy win for Herbrandston against Neyland B whilst Haverfordwest Lightning put their greater experience to good effect as they beat Cresselly to round off an action-packed evening of the indoor game in our division two.
 
 
 

Match One: Pembs Seniors A  (146 for 3) beat Pembs Seniors B (104 for 2) by 42 runs

 
The Seniors A lost Welsh international Alan Webster (run out for 7) and last man Mark Hicks cheaply, as he and Williams (27, when he returned for a short second bite of the cherry) were both well caught by Julian Forster off Jason Phillips, who returned fine figures of 2 for 18 as the pick of the B team’s bowlers.
 


But in between these wickets the rest of the A team put in a master class of batting as Stuart Carpenter (41 not out), David Haynes (31 not out) and Kevin Bowen (26 not out) all did really well as there were only 12 ‘dot balls’ and showed they could still shift between the wickets with 23 threes alongside nine fours and four straight sixes off the back wall.



 
It led them to a huge final total of 146 for 3, almost 15 runs per over, as the B string found it impossible to curb their big hitting – and then received early set-backs as they went in to bat and lost David Lockyer (1) and Dan Griffiths (9) cheaply before Jonathan ‘Taff’ Williams’ (28) and Jason Phillips (26 not out) steadied the innings but fell further and further behind the clack after scoring only 44 at the half-way stage.
 

Phillips completed his best all-round performance at this level and had support from Julian Forster (17 not out) and Ian Milsom (14 not out) but Webster, Carpenter and Bowen led the A team bowlers in keeping things tight and they eased home comfortable as a result.
 
 
 




 

Match Two: Neyland B (72 for 5) lost to Herbrandston (75 for 2) by 4 wickets

 
Neyland B struggled from the outset after opting to bat first against Herbrandston and it was only a hard-hitting 30 by veteran John Tennick, alongside 11 from ‘Mr Extras’ that saw them to their smallish total of 75 for 2 as Atticus Kingston (2 for 6), Dillon Lewis (1 for 21), Charlie Malloy, Rob Hood and  Rhys Power all bowled well for Herbie.
 
They had the sniff of a chance as Jamie Smith struck early to shift Kingston for a duck and Iestyn Miles later removed the dangerous Malloy for 12, as Tennick took the catch, but then Rhys Power and Hood settled into their run-making mode, ably assisted by 22 extras as Neyland failed to control the swinging ball as that tally included 17 wides.
 
Power top scored with 26 not out against his former team-mates and Hood contributed an unbeaten 15 so that Herbie reached their target for the loss of only two wickets and with 14 balls still in hand.
 
 








 

Match Three: Haverfordwest Lightning (119 for 2) beat Cresselly (89 all out) by 30 runs

 
Haverfordwest Lightning showed their capabilities in beating a young Cresselly side; Tom Rowlands excepted they were all teenagers, and Chris Phillips’ team had experience aplenty through Ben Field, Jake Merry and Johnny White, who all contributed in one way or another.
 
Field (30) and Merry (28) opened and both reached the retirement deadline, and although keeper Shan Pereira (8) was run out and White (9) was bowled by Griff Jenkins, there were other useful contributions from Phillips himself (20 not out) and Jack Roberts (12 not out) alongside 12 extras as they hit 31 threes, and two sixes, plus conceding 18 ‘dot balls’.
 
Senior player Tom Rowlands opened the  Cresselly batting with 15 but lost Griff Jenkins without scoring and Ollie Arthur (6) had to retire hurt from a leg injury, before his brother Charlie once again topped their batting with a hard-hitting 29 not out.  He was supported by Milo Jones (13 before he was run out) and 20 extras – but a significant factor was the scoring of only nine threes alongside plenty of singles, three fours and two sixes, but with 21 deliveries which weren’t scored from.
 
They ended up with 89 all out, with Phillips (1 for 9) and White (1 for 5) as key bowlers for The Town main team – but Cresselly are a rapidly improving team and with Tom Rowlands guiding them along they can only go from strength to strength.