Town triumph as Cresselly struggle
PHOTOS:
Haverfordwest celebrate Bowl success
Proud Town skipper Danny Potter holds the magnificent Bowl trophy aloft
Man of the match Dai Davies (centre) with adjudicators Colin John (right) and Mark Lee (left)
Cresselly pre-match
Danny Potter on his way to 77 (Pic Susan McKehon)
Umpires Richard Merriman & Dai Davies
Scorers Dave Richards & Jayne Cole
Harrison-Allen Bowl Final
(Sponsored by Thomas Scourfield and Son, Carew):
Haverfordwest (196 for 7 & 201 for 6) beat Cresselly (158 for 8 and 111 all out) by 128 runs
Umpires: Richard Merriman & Dai Morris
Scorers: Jayne Cole & Dave Richards
Man of the Match Adjudicators: Colin John and Mark Lee (Whitland)
Man of the Match: Dai Davies (Haverfordwest)
Haverfordwest gained their first Harrison-Allen Bowl victory for ten years as they outfought and out-thought a Cresselly side which was unable to utilise home advantage from the start and suffered what must be one of the heaviest defeats in the 65-year history of Pembrokeshire’s ‘Blue Riband’ cricket event.
The majority of pundits had tipped the winners but by a very narrow margin - but from the moment that skipper Danny Potter won the toss and immediately elected to bat on a belter of a wicket, most of The Town’s big guns fired whilst those of Cresselly never really got going, it was as simple as that.
Potter certainly led by example in collecting his first silverware as Haverfordwest skipper with the best knock of the match, a superb 77, as he and eventual man of the match Dai Davies plundered runs almost at will.
A massive first innings score of 196 for 7 ensured a 38-run lead at tea time and Haverfordwest really turned the screw afterwards as they slammed 201 for 6 against dejected bowling and fielding by Cresselly so that a target of 240 for victory seemed impossible, even at that stage.
Haverfordwest First Innings (196 for 7):
Having elected to bat first, Haverfordwest hopes received an early blow as Simon Holliday was adjudged lbw to off-spinner Mike Shaw without scoring, as early as the second over.
But Adam James and Dai Davies redressed the balance with 32 runs in quick time before James was dismissed by Shaw for 28, including two fours and three huge sixes, one of which finally came to land half-way across the adjoining field.
Jonathan Strawbridge helped Davies add another 48 runs (including another hefty six) before he was caught in the deep after some nifty juggling by Adam Chandler.
At this stage of the innings some vital acceleration came from the Davies/Potter pairing as they played a superb array of shots, running well between the wickets and punishing anything remotely off target with some lusty blows.
Davies was first to 50 (nine fours) in 48 balls before he was bowled by Tom Murphy in the 15 year olds second spell, which brought three wickets, one of them a run out, as Ben Field and Huw Scriven could muster just a single apiece in the quest for quick runs.
Potter had survived a chance at 30 as his square cut had too much pace for Cresselly skipper Phil Williams and he made the opposition pay in full as he struck 11 fours and three sixes en route to his 77, made from only 38 deliveries, before he was out off the final ball, bowled by Murphy; a captain’s innings if ever there was one!
Cresselly First Innings (158 for 8):
Cresselly needed a good start from traditional openers Phil Williams and Matthew Morgan and Haverfordwest certainly gave them a hand with a string of wides that helped them to 28 without loss before Potter switched Adam James to the clubhouse end and he had Morgan (13) well caught by Ajay Revu. James claimed an even bigger scalp in the same over, however, as he trapped Simon Cole lbw for a duck in a 2 for 28 spell.
It was a body blow for Cresselly and things got worse as Josh Wilment had Adam Chandler superbly caught by Ben Field, swooping low, and Revu bowled Harry Thomas to leave them at 65 for 4 in the tenth over.
Cresselly skipper Williams had stood at the other end watching wickets fall and he finally found a willing ally in Iwan Izzard as they added 57 together before Williams was neatly stumped by Scriven of Holliday’s left-arm slow stuff, having made 44 in 56 balls and including six boundaries.
Izzard was the only Cresselly batsman that looked able to go on the attack and after being dropped by Revu in front of the balcony he reached a deserved half century, including five fours and two sixes. Before he tried one run too many to Adam James on the boundary, and was run out for 52.
Mike Shaw also unleashed one big six but after 22 overs Cresselly were still 38 runs adrift, the only black spot on The Town’s performance being the fact that they conceded 26 extras, 15 of them wides.
Haverfordwest Second Innings (201 for 6):
Haverfordwest were clearly intent on building an unassailable lead, despite losing Adam James second ball for four runs, with Simon Holliday and Dai Davies building the tempo from 30 for 1 in five overs through good running between the wickets and big hitting.
Both were particularly severe on Harry Thomas and Mike Shaw, with Holliday unleashing a six on to the clubhouse roof and another to reach his half century in style.
They shared a stand of 132 in which Davies added his second 50 of the match, and Holliday looked in with a chance of three figures before he was run out in unusual circumstances when both he and Davies found themselves in a total mix-up which saw both standing in the same crease and the bails being removed at the other end.
It was real Keystone Cops stuff but after a little debate it was Holliday who had to trudge back to the pavilion with 65 to his name, including seven fours and three mighty sixes.
But Davies shrugged off this misfortune in another productive stand with Potter and benefitted from one dropped catch by Izzard – followed by two catches downed in the same over by Thomas and Williams off Murphy’s bowling that gave Potter the chance to thank them with a six off Murphy’s next over.
Potter was dismissed for 24 (two sixes) and Dai Davies reached 75 (including seven fours and three sixes), his 50 coming in only 35 balls and his innings lasting only 65 balls. It was cruel stuff for Cresselly supporters to watch and earned Davies the man of the match accolade as he helped Haverfordwest to a massive 201 for six wickets.
Cresselly Second Innings (111 all out):
Cresselly started out on what seemed a nigh-on impossible task by pushing Thomas up to open with Williams, who hit two boundaries off a first over that produced 12 runs – but Thomas was soon caught at the wicket and Simon Cole quickly followed, caught on the fence by Field off Revu.
Izzard managed one big six but was easily stumped by Scriven off Holliday, who had Williams dismissed for 25 so that at 51 for 4 it was all over, bar the shouting from the delighted Haverfordwest supporters.
Things became even worse for Cresselly at 56 for 6 and 81 for 8 as Holliday grabbed 5 for 28 and only Matthew Morgan (19), Neilson Cole (16 not out) and Tom Murphy (16) managed double figures before the end came when Clive Tucker had Stefan Jenkins caught by Nigel Delaney.
It produced a thoroughly deserved win for Haverfordwest and afterwards Danny Potter thanked his players and supporters, and especially team coach Jonathan Twigg, who has worked really well with the team in his first season in the role.
“We showed today what a good team we are and everyone contributed to the success.
“We were determined to get on top early on and that is just what we did. We bowled, batted and fielded better and got our reward.”
Cresselly skipper Phil Williams was clearly dejected in his first final at the helm but sportingly congratulated The Town, who were clearly better in a final which produced runs galore, as expected, but no-one could have predicted such a margin of victory before the start of a game played in the best spirit and which had supporters playing their part as well.
Haverfordwest: Danny Potter (Captain), Huw Scriven (wicket-keeper), Simon Holliday, Adam James, Dai Davies, Ben Field, Jonathan Strawbridge, Josh Wilment, Clive Tucker, Ajay Revu, Nigel Delaney. 12th/13th men: Sean Williams and Nitin Mathias.
Cresselly: Phil Williams (Captain), Neilson Cole (wicket-keeper), Harry Thomas, Simon Cole, Matthew Morgan, Stefan Jenkins, Iwan Izzard, Tom Murphy, Mike Shaw, Damian Arthur, Adam Chandler. 12th man: Tom Arthur.
Scorecards:
Haverfordwest First Innings Batting:
Adam James b Mike Shaw 28
Simon Holliday lbw b Mike Shaw 0
Dai Davies b Tom Murphy 60
Jonathan Strawbridge ct Adam Chandler b Mike Shaw 16
Danny Potter b Tom Murphy 77
Ben Field b Tom Murphy 1
Huw Scriven run out 1
Ajay Revu not out 1
Extras 12
Total (7 wickets) 196
Cresselly Bowling:
Tom Murphy 6-0-50-3; Mike Shaw 6-0-38-3; Harry Thomas 4-0-44-0; Stefan Jenkins 4-0-51-0; Simon Cole 2-11-0
Cresselly First Innings Batting:
Phil Williams st Huw Scriven b Simon Holliday 44
Matthew Morgan ct Ajay Revu b Adam James 13
Simon Cole lbw b Adam James 0
Adam Chandler ct Ben Field b Josh Wilment 7
Harry Thomas b Ajay Revu 2
Iwan Izzard run out 52
Damien Arthur lbw b Simon Holliday 0
Mike Shaw b Ajay Revu 10
Neilson Cole not out 3
Extras 27
Total (8 wickets) 158
Haverfordwest Bowling:
Clive Tucker 2-0-10-0; Adam James 4-0-38-2; Ajay Revu 6-0-35-2; Josh Wilment 4-0-35-1; Simon Holliday 3-0-24-2
Haverfordwest Second Innings Batting:
Adam James b Tom Murphy 4
Simon Holliday run out 65
Dai Davies ct Simon Cole b Stefan Jenkins 75
Danny Potter b Tom Murphy 24
Jonathan Strawbridge ct Simon Cole b Tom Murphy 8
Ben Field run out 3
Huw Scriven not out 1
Ajay Revu not out 10
Extras 11
Total (6 wickets) 201
Cresselly Bowling:
Tom Murphy 6-0-47-3; Mike Shaw 5-0-52-0; Simon Cole 6-0-34-0; Harry Thomas 2-0-31-0; Stefan Jenkins 3-0-33-1
Cresselly Second Innings batting:
Phil Williams b Simon Holliday 25
Harry Thomas ct Huw Scriven b Adam James 2
Simon Cole ct Ben Field b Ajay Revu 6
Iwan Izzard st Huw Scriven b Simon Holliday 9
Adam Chandler ct Dai Davies b Simon Holliday 3
Matthew Morgan lbw b Simon Holliday 19
Damien Arthur ct Jonathan Strawbridge b Josh Wilment 1
Mike Shaw b Josh Wilment 2
Neilson Cole not out 16
Tom Murphy st Huw Scriven b Simon Holliday 16
Stefan Jenkins ct Nigel Delaney b Clive Tucker 1
Extras 11
Total (all out) 111
Haverfordwest Bowling:
Adam James 3-0-32-1; Ajay Revu 3-0-13-1; Josh Wilment 3-0-30-2; Simon Holliday 6-0-28-5; Clive Tucker 1.1-0-6-1