Time & Venue - Sunday morning at The Hub, Neyland
Umpires: Chris Stapleton & Allan Hansen
 

Match One:

 

Miller makes his mark with bat and ball

 

Hook (144 for 1) beat Pembroke Dock A (111 for 5)

 
Hook showed just how much they learned from last season with this clear-cut victory over Pembroke Dock A as they amassed a challenging tally of 144 for 1 and then restricted The Dock  as Liam Miller claimed an amazing 5 for 8 haul that must surely be the best figures ever achieved since the indoor league started.
 
Liam normally keeps wicket but sustained an injury in rugby the previous day and so took on the role of fifth bowler and ambled in with such accuracy that he removed in-form Dock run-maker George Smith and had others queuing up to give their wickets away.
 
Miller had also played his part with the bat as he opened with Adam Phelps and they got off to a great start before the latter was run out for 21 - and Miller (27), George James (25) and Rhys Phelps (25) also plundered runs at a terrific rate. Bradley Flood looked likely to have to retire when he was on 24 he had to retire after belting a boundary with such power that he hurt his knee.
 
Callum James also hit a quick-fire nine runs alongside 8 extras in a final score of 144 for 1 that included 16 threes, eight fours and two sixes as all the Dock bowlers took a bit of ‘stick’ as skipper Scott Griffiths was the least expensive with 19 runs from his two overs.
 
The Dock also made a good start as Smith and Tom Grimwood (15) looked in form until the latter fell to a good return catch with the score on 61 - but then they collapsed to 62 for 4 after Smith retired and he was back at the crease with skipper Griffiths in a stand of  49 before Smith was caught by Aled Phelps for an excellent 53 that had the bulk of his team’s two sixes and three fours with 53 to his name.
 
Griffiths was not out on 25 as The Dock fell  34 runs short of victory - with absolutely no doubt about who the man of the match was!
 
 

Match Two:

 

Neyland A teach each their B team a lesson

 

Neyland A (118 for 4) beat Neyland B (35 all out)

 
Matches between the Neyland A and B teams are traditionally hard-fought but on this occasion the senior side proved far too strong as the seconds suffered a batting collapse of such huge proportions that they were shot out for only 35 runs.
 
But the A team got off to a bad start as Jamie Smith had Brad McDermott-Jenkins caught by George Evans without a run to his name but then Paul Murray (25) batted well until he was run out by delighted brother Steve, and Andrew Miller (27) redressed the balance before retiring.
 
Former long-time captain Sean Hannon, who was going to keep wicket for the seconds this campaign, was recalled to the firsts because Dai Davies had been called into work, and showed he can still do well with the bat before he also had to leave with 26 to his name, with twin brother Patrick (14) and skipper Patrick Bellerby (16) fell respectively to Iestyn Miles and Steve Murray with the aid of catches by Lewis Page and Evans.
 
But the B team struggled as their senior team applied pressure in the field and only George Evans (10) managed double figures so that even experienced players like Steve Murray and Gregg Miller, called in at short notice and looking resplendent in his jeans, came and went as Sean Hannon (0 for 10) and McDermott-Jenkins (0 for 6) bowled tightly and there were wicket for Andrew Miller (1 for 6) and Paul Murray (whose 1 for 9 was much enjoyed because his ‘victim’ was brother Steve), adjudged lbw and clearly disappointed at who claimed his wicket!
 
Patrick Hannon was the other wicket-taker as the indoor league organiser showed he is also a very good player as he claimed the last two wickets in successive balls to round off the B team’s innings - and leave him on a hat-trick when he next bowls!
 
 

Match Three:

 

Llan come out on top as Neyland B go close

 

Llanrhian (90 for 4) beat Neyland B (84 for 6)

 
Llanrhian’s innings was built around the performances of Iwan James and Simon Batchelor as Daf Williams (3), Karl Davies (8) and Llion Williams (6) were all run out, with Tom Clarke (3) caught by Iestyn Miles off Steve Murray’s tight bowling where he conceded only 8 runs from his two overs.
 
James proved to be only of the top scorers in the league last season and again he was the key run-maker here with an unbeaten 31 alongside Simon Bachelor (26 not out) but Llanrhian were never able to get totally on top and a final total of 90 for 4 (including 20 threes and only one boundary) was achieved with 13 extras and not considered to be ultra-challenging!
 
But Neyland B again struggled to gain any real momentum, other than some good batting by Evans as James (1 for 11), Karl Davies (1 for 19), Bachelor (1 for 14) and Clarke (1 for 12) kept things tight as Iestyn Miles (11) batted well but was run out late on.
 
With one over left the formula was simple - Neyland B needed only seven runs and with Evans standing alone on 45,  but James intervened as he had Evens caught off the first ball of the tenth over and Llanrhian edged through by six runs.