Micky's Pembrokeshire
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Harrison-Allen Semi-Final:
Koomen kills off Carew hopes
Carew (147 for 5)
lost to Neyland (150 for 4)
Umpires: Dave Brandon & Huw Davies.
Scorers: Tom Davies & Jenny Seaton.
Venue: The Racecourse, Haverfordwest.
Neyland reached their second Harrison-Allen Bowl Final in three years as they beat Carew by six wickets, with two overs to spare, at The Racecourse, Haverfordwest.
In an absorbing clash, the result could have gone either way until talented young Neyland No 4 batsmen Nick Koomen took the game by the scruff of the neck and blasted five fours and a six in his 44 not out that finally proved the decisive difference between the teams.
Four of those boundaries came in the 20th over of his team’s innings as they scored 21 runs to take them home – and his confidence was typified by one outrageously-executed reverse sweep which left him sitting on the floor but with the ball speeding to the boundary!
Not all-plain-sailing
But it wasn’t all plain-sailing for Neyland because the dropped a couple of early chances when Carew decided to bat first, allowing their opponents to start well via Nick Scourfield (24) and especially Ian Sefton, who had three fours and two sixes in his 49 before he was well caught by keeper Sean Hannon off Henry Durrant.
Gareth Lewis (34) and Tim Hicks (23) also batted well for Carew but at no time were they allowed to run away with the run rate as Patrick Hannon, Durrant and especially veteran slow bowler Gary Lloyd kept things tight. A final score of 147 for 5 was a decent one, but not outside the scope of a strong batting side like Neyland.
Useful start
Neyland also made a useful start as Gregg Miller and Paul Murray put on 36 for the first wicket before Murray was calmly caught on the point boundary by Brian Hall for 15. Gregg Miller was joined by his brother Andrew and their respective scores of 34 and 21 made sure that Neyland were there or thereabouts with the run rate before Koomen and Ashley Sutton increased the tempo at a vital time.
Sutton was eventually bowled by Ceri Brace for 20 to leave Neyland at 114 for 4 but then Koomen took control with some blistering shots that saw 13, 11 and 21 runs come in overs 18-20 – and Neyland were in the final against either Haverfordwest or Saundersfoot!
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