Alec Colley Cup final: Whitland (97-6 and 103-8) lost to Haverfordwest (111-4 and 90-4) by 6 wickets

It was tight, tense, and low scoring – and in the end it was Haverfordwest 2nds who prevailed in the Alec Colley Cup final at Pembroke yesterday as Nigel Morgan’s men kept their nerve to win by 6 wickets.

It was Morgan who asked Whitland 2nds to bat after winning the toss, and they struggled to 97-6 before The Town replied with 111-4, thanks mainly to 49 not out from Dai Davies, giving them a 14 run lead at tea.

The Borderers fought back with 103-8 in their second innings, setting The Town a tricky 90 to win. But after they slipped to 19-3, it was Josh Hicks who hit a crucial 33 not out as the club sealed the trophy for the 12th time.

FIRST INNINGS:

Whitland (97-6)

The heavy rain of the previous day made it inevitable that whoever won the toss would field, and Morgan duly chose to do so before taking the new ball himself

And in a frenetic first over, he almost removed opening skipper David Lee but put down a sharp chance of a return catch, with Lee also surviving a run out scare as he and Jack Bowen tried to push the pace.

Bowen did hook Chris Phillips to the boundary in the fourth over but the opening pair struggled to get away on an inevitably heavy outfield, making just 17 off the first five overs before the dangerous Bowen (8) miscued to Lewis Rhead off Chris Phillips.

Lee was later run out by Rhead and after 10 overs, Whitland were struggling on 26-2.

A partnership of 31 between Iestyn Scourfield and Ed John helped up the rate, before Scourfield holed out to George Thomas off Sanjay Gurung for what proved a top score of 19.

Conor Bowen (10) came in and hit two boundaries before being skittle by the same bowler, and Clive Tucker bowled John (15) to leave matters at 71-5.

But Martin Thomas helped take his side towards three figures with 18, including the only six of the innings off Tucker, before another Rhead catch gave Gurung figures of 3-33.

Haverfordwest (111-4)

The Town’s reply also started cautiously through Sean Williams and Dai Davies – before Williams got things going with a six off Connor Bowen.

But the latter soon got revenge by clean bowling the opener for 14.

And it was Bowen’s fifth and final over that then shifted the momentum, as he had Chris Phillips (7) caught behind by Adam Davies, before Ross Dewstowe well caught at gully by Gethin Benjamin for a duck. It gave the bowler impressive figures of 3-22.

That left Haverfordwest 36-3 after nine overs, and Hicks briefly raised the tempo with a six off Jack Bowen to cow corner, but then spooned up a return catch to the same player.

Davies was accumulating all the time though, picking off gaps and rotating the strike, and he was joined by Gurung as the par shared an unbroken stand of 52 to secure a tea time lead.

‘Dapper’ finished just 1 short of a half century, his knock including just one four and a straight six off Iestyn Scourfield’s final over, and Gurung also hit a four and a maximum to finish 21 not out.

Whitland:

David Lee run out (Lewis Rhead) 13

Jack Bowen ct Lewis Rhead b Chris Phillips 8

Iestyn Scourfield ct George Thomas b Sanjay Gurung 19

Ed John b Clive Tucker 15

Conor Bowen b Sanjay Gurung 10

Martin Thomas ct Lewis Rhead b Sanjay Gurung 18

Adam Davies not out 3

Gethin Scourfield not out 4

Extras: 7.

Total: 97 for 6.

Bowling: Nigel Morgan 5-1-0-15; Chris Phillips 5-2-10-1; Clive Tucker 5-0-38-1; Sanjay Gurung 5-0-33-3.

Haverfordwest:

Sean Williams b Conor Bowen 14

Dai Davies not out 49

Chris Phillips ct Adam Davies b Conor Bowen 7

Ross Dewstowe ct Gethin Benjamin b Conor Bowen 0

Josh Hicks c & b Jack Bowen 11

Sanjay Gurung not out 21

Extras: 9.

Total: 111 for 4.

Bowling: Conor Bowen 5-0-22-3; Ben Harvey 5-0-18-0; Jack Bowen 5-0-37-1; Iestyn Scourfield 5-0-32-0.

SECOND INNINGS:

Whitland 103-8

The Borderers promoted Martin Thomas up to opener in the search for quick runs, but he rode his luck as he was dropped twice before falling to Nigel Morgan, caught by Chris Phillips for 12.

And Morgan led by example as he took 3-17 by bowling Jack Bowen (7) before Phillips took another important catch to remove John after a mistimed slog-sweep.

That left Whitland 19-3 before Conor Bowen was bowled by Phillips (10) – and then Clive Tucker’s first over proved eventful as he skittled Adam Davies (1), and although Scourfield promptly blasted a six, he was caught on the boundary by Davies searching for another.

At 45-6, and a lead of just 31, the contest looked all over but then Gethin Scourfield and Lee gave their team hope with a stand of 39, ended when the captain was run out by Sean Williams for 20.

Scourfield went on to make 24 (two fours) before being caught by Williams off Gurung’s final ball of the innings, and Jamie Lewis made 9 not out to take their side to 103-8, setting The Town 90 to win.

Haverfordwest 90-4

Crucially, Dai Davies appeared to injure himself diving forward for an attempted catch in the last over of Whitland’s innings – and he was clearly struggling as he and Williams opened again, with Rhead coming out as a runner.

And The Town got a nervy start as Williams (2) nicked a Ben Harvey delivery to keeper Davies, and Phillips (3) was caught by Martin Thomas off Conor Bowen.

And then when a mix up between Rhead and new man Ross Dewstowe ultimately led to Davies (11) being run out, after he’d taken Harvey for a boundary over mid-on, and Haverfordwest were in trouble at 19-3.

 But Dewstowe turned the tide with a six and a four off Conor Bowen in the 7th over – and Hicks also began to warm up with a four off Jack Bowen’s first over, followed by a maximum off Scourfield.

Dewstowe launched another six to move to 29, before again trying to go big off Jack Bowen but only finding Lee in the deep.

But Hicks was joined by Gurung and the pair took matters to 70-4 after 16 overs, but then sealed the win off (Jack) Bowen in the 17th, with Gurung hitting a four then running three on route to 9 not out – and Hicks duly smashed two more sixes before taking a single to kick start the celebrations.

It was Gurung who took the man of the match award from adjudicators Neal Williams and Steffan ‘boxer’ Jenkins - for his crucial contributions in all four innings. Pembroke County Cricket Club Chairman Paul Webb thanked all involved in putting on the final, in particular the Pembroke ground staff, scorers, umpires, announcer Richard Merriman and cup sponsor Kenny Davies.

And it was Morgan who then led his side up to receive the silverware, with the club able to celebrate a 12th tournament win.

Whitland:

Martin Thomas ct Chris Phillips b Nigel Morgan 12

Jack Bowen b Nigel Morgan 7

Iestyn Scourfield ct Dai Davies b Clive Tucker 10

Ed John ct Chris Phillips b Nigel Morgan 0

Conor Bowen b Chris Phillips 10

Adam Davies b Clive Tucker 1

Gethin Scourfield ct Sean Williams b Sanjay Gurung 24

David Lee run out (Sean Williams) 20

Jamie Thomas not out 9

Bowling: Nigel Morgan 5-1-17-3; Chris Phillips 5-0-1-18; Clive Tucker 5-0-31-2; Sanjay Gurung 5-0-34-1.

Extras: 10.

Total: 103 for 8.

Haverfordwest:

Sean Williams ct Adam Davies b Ben Harvey 2

Dai Davies run out (Jack Bowen) 11

Chris Phillips ct Martin Thomas b Conor Bowen 3

Ross Dewstowe ct David Lee b Jack Bowen 29

Josh Hicks not out 33

Sanjay Gurung not out 9

Bowling: Conor Bowen 5-0-22-1; Ben Harvey 5-0-17-1; Jack Bowen 4-0-39-1; Iestyn Scourfield 3-0-12-0.

Extras: 3.

Total: 90 for 4.

Umpires: Dennis Chiffi and Dave Brandon.

Scorers: Kelly Williams and Jenny Davies-Scourfield.