South Wales Cricket Association  (250 for 5) beat Pembroke County Cricket Club  (217 for 9) by 33 runs

 

Umpires: Rob Bellerby & Gareth Brace
Scorer: Natalie Thomas (Haverfordwest)
 
Venue: Whitland Cricket Club
 
Pembroke County’s talented team of young players battled well against an experienced South Wales Cricket Association before losing out on an excellent wicket at Whitland, with Rhys Davies, making his first appearance as skipper and doing a good job which ended with the Carew skipper as top scorer but just missing out on a deserved half century in unfortunate circumstances.
 
Davies, who batted low at No 8 so the youngsters could gain valuable experience had reached 49 and was standing at the non-striker’s end when a straight drive that almost brought a boundary for 16 year old Oscar Lewis (Lawrenny) was deflected onto the stumps by the bowler and the unfortunate Davies was stranded outside his crease and so was denied 50 by a fingertip touch!
 

Experience in evidence for the SWCA

 
The SWCA experience was very much in evidence as openers Abdulla Rahini and John Mann shared 51 in fewer than nine overs when the former was caught by Morgan Grieve (Carew) off Ross Hardy (Neyland), who also removed Nos 3 and 4 Owen Baxter and James Taupe for ducks to end his first eventful over as first change with figures of 3 for 2!
 
Mann went on to reach 50 before he was bowled by another youngster in Harry Nicholas (Herbrandston), who later did well to also bowl top scorer Osian Webber for a powerfully-struck 92 which included 13 fours and 4 sixes from only 76 deliveries.
 
The visitors showed their batting strength in depth as Callum Watkins (8 fours in a breezy 38 not out) and Dan Williams (19 not out) took the SWCA to a healthy 250 for only 5 wickets as Davies gave a chance to eight bowlers in their allotted 40 overs.
 

County struggle against SWCA pace

 
Pembroke County got themselves off to a poor start as left-arm bowler Owen Davies quickly shifted Jack Harries (Pembroke) for 4  and Charlie Arthur (Cresselly) for ducks, after Mohammed Azair had removed Toby Hayman (Burton) without scoring to leave the county in dire straits at 15 for 3 before Morgan Grieve (Carew) was run out to add further pressure.
 
Harry Nicholas and Ross Hardy redressed the balance a little, with Hardy slamming five fours in his 22 and Nicholas contributing 29, but John Mansbridge (Saundersfoot) was unable to make a significant contribution before skipper Davies brought a semblance of order as he stroked eight fours in his 49 before that dramatic dismissal.
 
Pembroke County showed they also had batting strength in depth  the tail wagged thanks to Oscar Lewis (22), Ceri Brace (Pembroke, 30 not out) and James Hinchliffe (Carew, 20 not out) so that Pembroke County eventually produced a creditable performance in which they fought hard to the final delivery!
 

Scorecards:

 
SWCA Batting:
Abdulla Rahimi ct Morgan Grieve b Ross Hardy 33
John Mann b Harry Nicholas 50
Owen Baxter b Ross Hardy 0
James Taupe b Ross Hardy 0
Osian Webber b Harry Nicholas 92
Callum Walters not out 38
Dan Williams not out 19
Extras 18
Total (5 wickets) 250
 
PCCC Bowling:
Charlie Arthur 8-0-41-0;  Oscar Lewis 6-0-46-0; Ross Hardy  5-1- 25-3 , James Hinchliffe 5-0-32-0, Rhys Davies  3-0-20-0, John Mansbridge 5-0-28-0,  Ceri Brace 3-0-26-0, Harry Nicholas  5-0-27-2.
 
PCCC Batting:
Toby Hayman ct Lewis Hopkins b Mohammed Azair 0
Jack Harries b Owen Davies 4
Harry Nicholas b Ben Smart 29
Charlie Arthur ct Abdulla Rahini b Owen Davies 0
Morgan Grieve run out 7
Ross Hardy ct Colin Watkins b Ben Smart 22
John Mansbridge b Callum Walters 2
Rhys Davies run out 49
Oscar Lewis b James Taupe 32
Ceri Brace not out 30
James Hinchliffe not out 20
Extras 22
Total (9 wickets) 217
 
SWCA Bowling:
Owen Davies  5-0-15-2, Mohammed Azair 5-0-26-1, Ben Smart  7-0-38-2, Callum Walters 8-1-28-1; Owen Baxter 4-0-29-0; John Mann  7-0-57-0; James Taupe 4-0-17-1.