Narrow win for Hook (From Western Telegraph)

Narrow win for Hook

Hook (134 for 8) beat Lawrenny (133 all out) Umpires: Barry Wood and Tony Scourfield Scorers: Joy James and Malcolm Thomas

An unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 34 by unsung heroes Brennan Lay and Dave Petrie helped Hook gain a narrow win in a tense finish against Lawrenny, whose powerful batting line-up could only muster 133 as fortunes ebbed and swayed throughout.

Hook also found it hard to build any partnerships before Lay and Petrie got together, with Lay rounding off a good day since he had already pouched three catches in support of his bowlers.

Adi Harries held the Lawrenny innings together with a gritty half century before he became one of Lay's catch hat-trick, with Matthew Holder the bowler.

Holder claimed two wickets alongside Gary Martin's 3 for 21 before Julian Green claimed the top figures of 4 for 21 despite a speedy 27 by Andrew Cole (Junior), as the rest of the Lawrenny batting order failed to produce the goods.

Green had started with two wicket maidens but then was hit for three successive sixes by Cole before Keith James got rid of the real threat posed by the big hitter when Gary Martin held on to the catch as Lawrenny were shot out from only 40.3 overs.

Hook started badly when Matthew Rowlands failed to trouble the scorers against the pace of Lawrenny skipper Rob Williams, who soon shifted Mick Haltam as part of an impressive 4 for 23 spell of 12 overs.

Gary Martin managed 25 but it seemed as if Lawrenny would edge through as Ian Jenkins also claimed two wickets - but then Lay and Petrie held their nerve in a late fight-back that saw them home in the third of the four overs donated them by Lawrenny!