Cresselly set the pace with two excellent victories

 

Eleri stars with the ball for Cresselly

Match One – Cresselly (92 for 3) beat Haverfordwest (65 all out)

 
Cresselly were only able to field five players against a strong Cresselly team and paid the inevitable price as they lost by 26 runs at the Neyland Hub facility.
 
Put in to bat first, Cresselly made an excellent start and had reached 50 without loss at the midway mark pf four overs, with Zoe Minnett (26) and Jess Lewis (28) having to retire, and with Lewis having got the innings off to a flying start with two boundaries in the first over.

Chrissie Toy maintained the momentum with a quick 11 and with 10 extras Cresselly finished up with their challenging total of 92 for 3.
 
Lyn Ward (18) batted well for The town early on and skipper Sam Rossiter showed her high batting skills with a classy 33 than contained two fours and two sixes but she was removed by Eleri Williams, whose first over saw her break the back of the innings with 3 for 5 before she finished with 4 for 10 from only nine deliveries.
 
Ffion Ashman, fresh from playing Welsh Ladies Premier Football in goal for Aberystwyth Town the previous day, supported with an accurate 1 for 7 as Haverfordwest ended up on 66 all out in 6.3 overs.


 

Lyn leads The Town to success

Match Two – Neyland (71 for 5) lost to Haverfordwest (72 for 1)

 
Haverfordwest showed how much they had learned from their earlier defeat as they limited Neyland to 71 for 5 and reached their target for the loss of only one wicket with eight balls still in hand.
 
Sarah Arran called upon all her long-serving batting skills with a terrific 38 not out for Neyland, an innings which included three fours and six threes whilst Opal Rayner (13) and Extras (10) were the other main contributors as Lyn Ward lead The Town attack with 2 for 18 alongside Leila Egelstaff (1 for 19) and Becky Wadia (1 for 12).
 
Ward also topped the batting charts for The Town with an undefeated 25 (seven threes and a four), as did Becky Wadia (5 threes and 5 twos). It set their side towards an easy win as there were also ten extras after they had scored 38 in four overs and were never in trouble thereafter.







 

Ffion features with bat and ball

Match Three – Burton (63 all out) lost to Cresselly (65 for 1)

 
Cresselly completed an excellent start to the competition with this comfortable victory over Burton, who were dismissed for only 63 runs in seven overs as Chrissie Toy (2 for 5), Ffion Ashman (1 for 10) and Lauren Arthur (1 for 12) did the damage.
 
Finola Scale, who has for many years led the way in the outdoor game, showed all her class with 40 of those runs, a fine knock that included three boundaries, sic threes and five twos but no-one else managed double figures alongside eight extras.
 
It was never likely to be enough to test Cresselly’s batting line up and Ffion Ashman (26, including two sixes and three threes) and Eleri Williams 26, with three fours and three threes, combined to score 50 in only four overs.
 
Ella Williams (1 for 22) enjoyed the only bowling success for Burton before Zoe Minnett stroked three threes in quick succession to see Cresselly through with 18 deliveries still left.



 

Fantastic Finola leads Burton to victory

Match Four – Burton (84 for 1) beat Neyland (52 all out)

 
Burton quickly bounced back to easily account for Neyland, batting first and establishing a target that was beyond the host club on the day.
 
Finola Scale was in fine fettle again with 26 runs before she retired, with 1 six, 1 four and five threes, whilst Bron Scale struck two sixes, 2 threes and 3 twos in contributing 27 before going the same way.

Becky Barton chipped in with 16 and Jade Louise Major grabbed 1 for 27 as the only Neyland wicket-taker but they were always on the back foot after conceding 21 runs in the first over.

Opal Rayner batted well with 13 for Neyland and Sarah Arran added 12 runs alongside 10 extras but Finola Scale completed a remarkable performance with 4 for 10 (three in her first over)  and Becky Barton supported with 1 for 10 to give Burton victory by 32 runs.