National Village Cup Zone Final:
Carew (156 all out) lost to Cresselly (159 for 2) by 8 wickets

Matches between these two local rivals over many years have been traditionally hard-fought but on this occasion it was Cresselly who travelled the mile or so ‘down the hill’ and went home with an easy victory.

Neilson Cole’s team restricted Carew to 156 all out in the last of their 40 overs as Richard Harris showed his ability with the ball in an eight-over spell, half of which were maidens as he finished with 3 for 13.

Harris plays for the Welsh over 60s team but he showed he was still a more than useful bowler as he shifted key run-makers Tom Davies, Nick Davies and Nick Scourfield, ably assisted by the rest of the Cresselly attack.

As a result, Carew were never able to build large partnerships after Nick Davies (31) and Tim Hicks (12) were the only batsmen to look remotely settled until Simon Wood made a rare appearance at No 8 and showed he still has that stroke play shown over many years, with a top score of 43 not out and a late 55 stand with Ceri Brace (15).

There were also 30 extras, 27 of them wides, as bowlers had to deal with a tricky wind, but at tea Cresselly were considered slight favourites.

Phil Williams (17) and Adam Chandler (four fours and a six in his 57) got Cresselly off to a decent start before both fell to Shaun Whitfield – but by then Cresselly were almost in cruise mode because Iwan Izzard struck three fours and two big sixes in his undefeated 40 before Alex Bayley belted a six and four in his 13 not out.

Cresselly’s total was also boosted by a high extras tally of 32 (18 wides) and they finished things off in only 29 overs and now take on the winners of the Herefordshire/Powys match as reward in their next match in this national competition.

Carew Batting:
Tom Davies lbw b Richard Harris 1
Nick Davies st Neilson Cole b Richard Harris 31
Tim Hicks ct Sam Harts b Sion Jenkins 12
Nick Scourfield lbw b Richard Harris 1
Brian Hall ct Phil Williams b Sion Jenkins 4
Sean Whitfield ct Ryan Lewis b Tom Arthur 4
James Hinchliffe b Simon Cole 6
Simon Wood not out 43
Ceri Brace ct Alex Bailey b Ryan Lewis 15
Max Brindley b Sam Harts 7
Iori Hicks run out 2
Extras 30
Total (all out) 156
Cresselly bowling:
Sam Harts 7-0-44-1; Richard Harris 8-4-13-3; Sion Jenkins 5-0-26-2; Simon Cole 6-1-14-1; Tom Arthur 8-2-28-2; Ryan Lewis 5.4-0-26-1.

Cresselly Batting:
Phil Williams ct Nick Scourfield b Shaun Whitfield 17
Adam Chandler lbw b Shaun Whitfield 57
Iwan Izzard not out 40
Alex Bailey not out 13
Extras 32
Total (2 wickets) 159
Carew bowling:
Shaun Whitfield 8-0-38-2; Tom Davies 3-0-10-0; Max Brindley 2-0-9-0; Ceri Brace 8-1-22-0;  James Hinchliffe 7-0-57-0; Iori Hicks 1-0-3-0.

Umpires: Dave Brandon and Arthur Brady.
Scorers: Julie Davies and Teagan Cartwright.