Pembrokeshire Under 10s (129 for 6) beat Wales Girls (125 all out) by 4 runs

 
Venue: Lawrenny CC
 
A large crowd at a sunny and warm Lawrenny CC witnessed an excellent cricket match between Pembrokeshire Regional Under 10s and Wales Girls before  Pembrokeshire prevailed in a 35 over match by just four runs, with both teams treating the crowd to some high quality cricket.
 
Coach Steve Lewis and Manager Jamie Phelps gave regional debuts to 10 players, only co-captains Rhys Phelps and Oscar Willington, and Whitland player Cian Rees, surviving from last year’s squad.
 
Wales Girls, with players ranging between 10 and 12 years of age, featured Pembrokeshire player Megan Clewer-Evans in Welsh colours – so well done Megan!
 

Pembrokeshire batted first – with useful performances

 
In a match where both teams would bat for the full 35 overs, Pembrokeshire batted first and after losing an early wicket, Oscar Willington (24 retired) and Rhys Phelps (39 retired) came together in a superb stand of 65 where neither batsman gave a chance and regularly hit the boundary.
 
On their retiring, Cian Rees (16 retired) and Jamie Keating (13 retired) kept the scoreboard ticking with positive batting. Louis Treadaway-Williams and Rhys Lewis were both unlucky to play on after looking positive but Sam Lynch took his team to tea with some positive intent to grab some late runs.
 
For Wales Girls there was some excellent bowling and fielding on show. The ground fielding was very accomplished, backing up leading bowlers Millie Blake (2 for 2) and Niamh Mansell (3 for 3) as Pembrokeshire finished on 129 for 6; a competitive total for the girls to chase.
 

Early collapse by the girls before a great come-back

 
Pembrokeshire made a good start, reducing Wales Girls to 25 for 4 early on where Cian Rees (2 for 10), Kiaran Sine (1 for 3) and Oscar Willington (1 for 7) made the breakthroughs. But Niamh Mansell (32 not out) and Olivia Corey (28) batted brilliantly to take the score to 104 for 4.
 
These two ran brilliantly between the wickets, putting pressure on the fielders under a hot sun., despite William Harries, George Morgan and Owen Grieve all bowling good spells to restrict the scoring before the two batters took their team to within 26 runs of victory.
 

Tense finale

 
In a tense finish Jamie Keating snapped up 1 for 15 but it was Oscar Lewis (5 for 4) who took centre stage to decimate the middle and lower order in a fine spell of bowling. Oscar, along with his teammates, showed the virtue of bowling wicket to wicket; all eleven dismissals being clean bowled.
 
Rhys Phelps (1 for 12) stepped up to bowl the last over with Wales Girls needing 9 to win and held his nerve. Rhys Lewis did a great job behind the wicket, keeping for all 35 overs for the first time.
 
An excellent day of cricket, some stand-out performances from these young guys and a real confidence boost to secure a first-up victory. Both teams were a credit to junior cricket, playing the game in a wonderful spirit enjoyed by all.

County Team Photograph:
Back Row: Owen Grieve, Cian Rees, Sam Lynch, Oscar Lewis, Kiaran Sine, William Harries, Louis Treadaway-Williams
Front Row: Jamie Keating, Rhys Lewis, Oscar Willington, Rhys Phelps, George Morgan, Dylan Sine