Welsh Indoor Cricket Finals:

Venue: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

Umpires: Dean Price and Phil Haines
Scorer: Tomos Barry
Neyland Press Officer for the Day: Tom Pritchard
Neyland Photographer for the Day: Martin Jones 

Neyland are Welsh Indoor Cricket Champions again after two outstanding performances at the Sophia Gardens’ Indoor Cricket School in Cardiff saw them beat Ynystawe and Newport to make progress to the next stages at Bromsgrove where four teams will compete for the chance of reaching the national Finals at Lords.

Amazingly, this was Neyland’s seventh Welsh Championship success in ten years and on two occasions they have played at Lords as proof of their ability against strong teams like Ynystawe, who play in the Welsh Premier League Division Two and Newport, who last season won the Welsh Premier Division One that includes the likes of St Fagans, Cardiff, Swansea, Neath and Ammanford.

Newport showed their great strength in an easy win against Ynystawe before Neyland also beat the latter to set up a final of sorts, where skipper Sean Hannon showed his belief in his team as he opted to bat first and set a target that proved too big for the opposition.



 

Match One:

Ynystawe (76 all out) lost to Newport (79 for 1)

Ynystawe found it hard going as their lowly score was only achieved because Newport spinner Zal bowled a 15-ball over and there was a crazy total of 30 extras.
Newport knocked off the runs with some ease for the loss of only one wicket before having a rest prior to taking on Neyland.









 

Match Two:

Ynystawe (72 for 5) lost to Neyland (73 for 4)

Sean Hannon won the toss and decided to bat second – and Nick Koomen bowled really well at the outset for Neyland with two wickets before Sean Hannon discarded his wicket-keeping gloves to bowl and remove Morgan Hodges cheaply as well as taking a sharp catch to help Nathan Banner take the wicket of Gethin Jones. James Bendle topped the Ynystawe batting with 25 before he was run out at a key time by a direct hit from George Evans – with Koomen again the top performer with the ball from his superb 2 for 9 spell in three overs.
Neyland made a confident start with 25 for 0 in three overs but then Nick Koomen was run out for only seven runs and Patrick Bellerby followed in the same way for 20 to put Neyland into an edgy state of mind but 11 apiece from Ashley Sutton and Nathan Banner, the latter not out) saw them cross the finishing line with two overs and two wickets left.

Ynystawe Batting:
Ceri Durke b Nick Koomen 4
Phil Bendle lbw b Nick Koomen 14
James Bendle run out 25
Morgan Hughes b Sean Hannon 4
Gethin Jones ct Sean Hannon b Nathan Banner 12
Rhys Palmer not out 9
Extras 4
Total (5 wickets) 72

Neyland Bowling:
Nathan Banner 3-0-20-1; Nick Koomen 3-1-9; Patrick Bellerby 3-0-19-0; Sean Hannon 3-0-28-1

Neyland Batting:
Nick Koomen run out 7
Patrick Bellerby run out 20
Ashley Sutton ct & b James Bendle 11
Sean Hannon lbw b Rhys Palmer 8
Nathan Banner not out 11
George Evans not out 1
Extras 15
Total (4 wickets) 73

Ynystawe Bowling:
Ceri Duke 3-0-9-0; Rhys Palmer 3-0-32-0; James Bendle 2-0-16-0; Morgan Hughes 2-0-26-0

 

Match Three:

Neyland (108 for 4) beat Newport (75 all out)

After electing to bat first to apply pressure on Newport the ploy worked as Koomen (14) and Bellerby put on 33 for the first wicket, with the latter finishing on 26 before he was run out.

Ashley Sutton also contributed a terrific 26 before having to retire and although Banner and Smith were unable to trouble the scorer over-much it was skipper Hannon who provided the vital late impetus with an unbeaten 18 that took them into three figures as they were also assisted by 16 from ‘Mr Extras’
Nathan Banner and Koomen then bowled tightly at the start of Newport’s response, combining to claim a key early wicket as Banner took a good catch off Waugh-Hinton for only three runs.

Michael Clayton and Chris Hardy then steadied the Newport ship with respective scores of 23 and 21 before some good work by Bellerby saw the former run out and – and then he claimed the latter’s scalp thanks to a good catch by Koomen.

Hannon shows his versatility

Skipper Hannon then relinquished his gloves to bowl a really tight 2 for 11 spell in three overs where he sifted Zal (another catch for Bellerby!) and Phil Maclean from a stinging return catch to appropriately seal victory after Hassan was run out.

“We had played Ynystawe last year and thought we might have their measure,” Sean Hannon told us, “but knew Newport were much stronger. 

“We had hoped to set a larger tally but their opening pair showed their experience in spin and pace combined so we at least knew the target we set was challenging if we could bowl, catch and field well.

“And that is exactly what we did as our bowling was supported by some great catches and our ground fielding was top-class.

“We are already looking forward to another trip even further ‘up the line’ and are delighted to be able to fly the Pembrokeshire Flag with distinction again.”


Neyland Batting:
Nick Koomen b Zal 14
Patrick Bellerby run out 26
Ashley Sutton retired 26
Nathan Banner st James Waugh-Hinton b Hassan 8
Sean Hannon not out 18
George Evans run out 0
Extras 16
Total (for 4 wickets (108 

Newport Bowling:
Chris Hardy 3-0-30-1; Zal 3-0-27-1; Phil McLean 2-0-22-0; Hassan 3-0-18-0; James Waugh-Hinton 1-0-11-0

Newport Batting:
Michael Clayton run out 23
James Waugh-Hinton ct Nathan Banner b Nick Koomen 3
Chris Hardy ct Nick Koomen b Patrick Bellerby 21
Zal ct Patrick Bellerby b Sean Hannon 13
Phil McLean ct & b Sean Hannon 4
Hassan run out 0
Extras 11
Total (all out) 75

Neyland Bowling:
Nathan Banner 3-0-13-0; Nick Koomen 3-0-19-0; Patrick Bellerby 3-0-32-1; Sean Hannon 3-0-11-2