Cresselly cruise to ten-wicket win

Dan Sutton led the way for Cresselly

Harrison Allen Bowl semi-final:


Narberth (115 all out) lost to Cresselly (116 for 0) by 10 wickets

 
Venue: Spring Hill, Whitland CC
 
Umpires: Richard Scriven and Richard Merriman.
Scorers: Richard Howell and Teagan Cartwright.

Adam Chandler batted well for CressellyThe 2018 Harrison Allen Bowl final will be between neighbours Cresselly and Lawrenny after Neilson Cole's side made light work of Narberth at Spring Hill, Whitland, last night.

The Division Two outfit were led by Richie Adams in the absence of skipper Jordan Howell, but after choosing to bat - slumped to 44-7 as Cresselly took firm control.

Their lower order helped salvage a competitive total, but Adam Chandler and Dan Sutton then ensured The Doves reached a fourth final in five years as they comfortably knocked off the 116 required to seal a 10 wicket win.
 

Good start soon disappears


The night had started well for Narberth as Adams clipped Dan James to the fence in the first over, and Aron Keane followed suit with a boundary off Ryan Lewis' first ball.

Keane (10) then got fortunate with an inside edge off James which also found the rope, but the latter soon had his man after an edge through to keeper Cole.

From there on, Cresselly dominated and Kyle Quartermaine was run out without scoring after a smart throw by Lewis, and James grabbed a second wicket as Adams (5) was brilliantly caught by Iwan Izzard as he charged in from the boundary.

Ben Quartermaine (8) tried to turn the tide with two fours before he was caught by Chandler off Mike Shaw, and Tom Arthur removed Davy Johns (8) as he mistimed a drive into the hands of Alex Bayley.

Shaw bowled Lewis Hough (3) and Ben Hughes (1) was LBW to Arthur - and at 44-7, there seemed a distinct possibility Narberth would fail to pass 50.


Gritty counter-attack


Solid knock by Loui DaviesBut then Loui Davies and Shane Morgan gave them hope with a stand of 44 - with Morgan launching sixes off both Lewis and Arthur en route to 27, before being bowled by Lewis.

The promising Davies however, showed his potential with back–to-back fours off James in the penultimate over, clocking four boundaries in total as he made 27 not out.

He was helped by No 10 Rhodri Dyer, who also took Lewis for a maximum in the last over to finish 14 not out, as Narberth finished on 115-8.

For Cresselly, James finished with 2-38, Lewis 1-33, Shaw 2-15 and Arthur 2-24.
 

Intelligent batting


The total looked nowhere near enough and so it proved, as both Sutton and Chandler hit boundaries off Ben Quartermaine to take 15 off the first over - although only after Sutton had survived a big LBW shout.

With little pressure in terms of run rate the pair then batted intelligently, and it wasn't until the 13th over, when Sutton's hook shot off Davy Johns just evaded the hands of Davies, that Narberth fashioned a real chance of a wicket.

Adams did use five bowlers as he searched for a breakthrough but Sutton moved through the gears to hit 11 fours in his 63 not out, with Chandler finishing on 38 (three fours), the latter stroking the single that secured the win in 17.1 overs.

Cresselly skipper Neilson Cole told PembrokeshireSport afterwards,
"I'm delighted by our all-round performance because we knew Narberth would be dangerous opponents if their big-hitters got going so we bowled and fielded well, including some exceptional catches. Now we look forward to our big day against our pals from Lawrenny - it should be a great final!"

"We are gutted," said Narberth's key all-rounder Kyle Quartermaine, "because we took the positive step of batting first and then were down to 44 for 7 before our teenagers gave some respect to the score so fair play to them - and to Cresselly for putting us under so much pressure."

It means Cresselly and Lawrenny will meet in the Bowl final for only the second time ever - with the latter winning the 2001 clash.

And it is sure to be an intense and enthralling derby between the two near neighbours, as the build-up begins to July 28th.

Kyle Quartermaine is run out