South Wales Junior Cricket League  (SWJCL) 125 for 4 beat Pembrokeshire County Youth 106 for 6 by 19 runs

 
Venue: Llandysul Cricket Club
Umpires: Richard Lewis and Mike Turner
Scorer: Ben Davies
 
The picturesque Llandysul Cricket Club provided the setting for an excellent encounter between the Pembrokeshire County Youth team and their counterparts from the South Wales Junior Cricket League. The match was switched to a T20 format due to the forecast of bad weather and despite the rain arriving early, umpires and players alike battled through to a finish.
 
The cricket from both teams was of a high quality with some excellent young talent on show. Both teams were made to work hard for runs with the bowlers showing their skills backed up by a superb fielding display from both sets of players. With six overs remaining in the game Pembrokeshire looked odds on to take the win but an inspired spell of leg spin bowling from Benji Thomas turned the game on its head and saw SWJCL to victory.
 

Pembrokeshire get on top early but SWJCL fightback

 
Pembrokeshire captain Charlie Arthur lost the toss and was invited to field by opposite number Gruffudd Owen. Owen opened the innings for SWJCL with Jac Williams but found runs at a premium as Charlie Arthur and Charlie Malloy  joined forces to produce an outstanding opening spell. Such was their control that SWJCL sat at a lowly 16 for 2 after the six over power play.
 
Things soon got worse as in his first over Rhys Phelps clean bowled Lewis Edwards leaving the score at 21 for 3. At that point Theo Bowden and Jack Hobbs came together seeking to restore order and they did so in style with an excellent stand of 74.
 
Despite Noah Williams, Ashley Watkins, Finley Lewis and Rhys Daley continuing to bowl tightly, these two slowly began to gain some ascendency. They ran well between the wickets and punished any error in length and width. Hobbs fell to Lewis for 34 with Bowden going on to complete a crucial half century.
 
Following Bowden’s retirement, Thomas and John Mann plundered some vital runs from the last few overs to complete an excellent recovery by SWJCL seeing them close on 125 for 4. They were rightly buoyant going into the break whilst the Pembrokeshire boys felt they had probably given their opponents 20 runs too many. Nevertheless, an intriguing chase ensued as the game swung one way then the other.
 

Pembrokeshire start slowly but build a winning position

 
Arthur and Jack Badham made a very steady start as Hobbs and Mann bowled with pace and exploited the sideways movement on offer. Arthur then exploded into action with two consecutive sixes to put SWJCL on the back foot. Badham played a key support role as Arthur looked to take on the change bowlers, these two getting on top and taking their team to a very strong position at 64 for 0 at the halfway stage.  However, from the first ball of the 11^th over Joshua Hallam claimed the prize wicket of Arthur for a superb 44 to break the partnership.
 
Badham was joined by Lewis and these two maintained the momentum as Lewis struck three quick boundaries. At 85 for 1 Pembrokeshire sat in a match-winning position, needing 41 runs to win from the final six overs. The body language of the two teams suggested the die was cast.
 

Thomas wreaks havoc

 
Benji Thomas then proceeded to produce a match winning performance, the leg spinner claiming 4 wickets in 7 balls to rip through the Pembrokeshire middle order. Lewis, Will Allen and Daley were all clean bowled in quick succession followed by Watkins, trapped in front by the rampant Thomas.
 
All the while Badham battled on to retain hope of victory. He was joined by Atticus Kingston in a late flurry of runs as both batters gave it everything. But it was not to be as Pembrokeshire closed 19 runs short of their opponents, Badham dismissed from the final delivery for an excellent 37.
 

Plenty of positives to take away

 
Despite the loss, coaches Jon Willington and Steve Lewis were pleased with a really positive performance from the team and united in their view. “It’s fabulous to see these young guys who regularly play against each other, come together and play with such spirit and enjoyment” they said. “This is a ‘no pressure’ environment for our players to go out and showcase their talents and they certainly did that.”
 
The Youth next take on Cowbridge at Carew CC on Sunday 28^th July.

Pembrokeshire: Charlie Arthur (C) (Cresselly), Will Allen (WK) (Lawrenny), Ashley Watkins (Neyland), Atticus Kingston (Herbrandston), Charlie Malloy (Herbrandston), Finley Lewis (Lawrenny), Jack Badham (Kilgetty), Noah Williams (Lawrenny), Rhys Daley (Pembroke Dock), Rhys Phelps (Hook), Tomos Lewis (Llechryd)
 

Scorecard:

 
SWJCL
Gruffudd Owen c Ashley Watkins b Charlie Malloy 2
Jac Williams c&b Charlie Arthur 4
Lewis Edwards b Rhys Phelps 6
Theo Bowden retired not out 50
Jack Hobbs lbw Finley Lewis 34
Benji Thomas not out 15
John Mann not out 8
Extras 6
Total: 125 for 4
Bowling: Charlie Malloy 4-0-21-1; Charlie Arthur 4-0-23-1; Noah Williams 4-0-28-0; Rhys Phelps 4-0-23-1; Finley Lewis 2-0-11-1; Ashley Watkins 1-0-11-0; Rhys Daley 1-0-5-0
 
Pembrokeshire
Charlie Arthur b Joshua Hallam 44
Jack Badham b Jack Hobbs 37
Finley Lewis b Benji Thomas 13
Will Allen b Benji Thomas 0
Rhys Daley b Benji Thomas 0
Ashley Watkins lbw Benji Thomas 0
Atticus Kingston not out 7
Extras 5
Total: 106 for 6
Bowling: Jack Hobbs 4-0-18-1; John Mann 3-1-6-0; Joshua Hallam 3-0-24-1; Harri Morgan 2-0-24-0; Benji Thomas 4-1-15-4; Ellis Davies 1-0-5-0; Noa Lloyd 3-0-13-0