Cresselly (252 for 9) drew with Haverfordwest (204 for 9)

CRESSELLY missed out by a whisker as Haverfordwest’s last pair of Nigel Delaney and Clive Tucker held out for the three final overs to deny Cresselly a morale-boosting victory just a week before the teams clash in the Harrison-Allen Bowl.

Cresselly skipper Phil Williams (41) and Matthew Morgan (32) gave their side a good start in an opening stand of 72 and Iwan Izzard also supported well with a hard-hitting 45 as they looked likely to pass the 200 mark thanks to Harry Thomas (24) and Simon Cole (20) also chipping in with runs.

But then Brad McDermott-Jenkins increased the tempo as he smashed 29 runs off one Simon Holliday over and finished on 50 not out in 27 deliveries, including three fours and four huge sixes so that Cresselly were able to set a formidable target of 253 runs to win.

Josh Wilment (2 for 21), Ajay Revu (3 for 51), Clive Tucker (2 for 34) Holliday (1 for 56) and Dai Davies (1 for 37) were the Town wicket-takers.

Haverfordwest’s major contributors were Simon Holliday (54) and Ajay Revu (33) but it was left to Delaney 28 not out) and Tucker (9 not out) to cling on against Tom Murphy (3 for 54) and Simon Cole (4 for 34) – and they will be happy that McDermott-Jenkins is cup-tied for next week.

Umpires: Les Hastings & Ian Phillips.

Scorers: Dave Richards & Jayne Cole.