Pembroke County Cricket
Division 2
Narberth 129 all out (28) beat Llechryd 125 all out (8) by 5 runs
Llechryd fell just five runs short of victory at Narberth and they will look back at a direct throw in from the boundary and on to the stumps that probably cost them victory.
The visitors looked to have recovered from a poor start with John Curran going well and just four short of a half century but he was run out by a direct hit from the ropes and the Llechryd challenge faded badly after this.
Skipper Graham Keen decided to put the Otters into bat and this looked a shrewd move as veteran left arm bowler Peter Betterley (pic above) blew away most of the Narbeth front line batting order with four wickets in a spell of 12 overs for just 11 runs. This left the home side in deep trouble on 23-5. However the hosts dug in and gradually assembled a defendable total on the board.
The Narbeth innings ended in the final over when they were all out for 128 with Dai Hughes hitting 20, Ben Hughes 17 and Kyle Quartermaine 13. The chief wicket takers other than Betterley were Graham Keen 3-28 and John Curran 3-31.
A positive start was essential for Llechryd but man of the match Davies, who opened the bowling took the middle stump of opener Andrew Fletchers with the very first ball. The situation soon got worse with fellow opener, Dewi Davies also falling to his first ball.
Good running between the wickets was frustrating the home side but this proved to be the downfall of Curran as a direct hit from the boundary saw him run out four short of a half century. From there on it was yet another case of the Llechryd tail buckling under pressure with the returning Mike Godfrey (12) the only other batsman to reach double figures and the innings ended with Llechryd just five runs short of their target and a third defeat on the bounce.
Ben Quartermaine matched the efforts of Davies with the ball in hand and took 3-27, Owen Richards picked up 2-29 and Mathew Johns took one wicket.
Division 3
Llechryd 2nds 64 all out (3) lost to Carew 2nds 68 for 3 by 7 wkts
Division high fliers Carew 2nds kept the pressure on leaders Pembroke Dock by inflicting a heavy defeat on Llechryd 2nds at the RDM Oval.
The Teifisiders, who battled hard were never really able to trouble the visitors, who cruised to a very easy victory.
The pace of James Hinchcliffe who took four wickets for just 16 runs combined with the swing of Tim Hurle who picked up a couple of wickets for just one run all but ended any hopes of victory with most of the hosts top order getting out cheaply. Those that came in after them staged a small recovery to push the total along to 63 all out with Scot Thomas with 14 and Ben Graham 18 the only run makers of note.
The Llechryd bowlers did manage to get a bit out of the wicket with all rounder Thomas in particular producing a decent spell and taking 2-19 but the likes of Hayden Shapcott 27 and Iori Hicks 10 helped their side chase down the runs very comfortably.
Division 4
Llangwm 2nds 138 for 6 (29) beat Crymych 135 all out (7) by 4 wkts
Crymych suffered another defeat despite a superb half century from sixteen year old batsman Rhodri Thomas who was also impressive with the ball in hand.
Playing against the league leaders in Llangwm 2nds the Preselimen struggled for partnerships with Thomas running out of players at the other end but he was well worth his splendid knock of 54 as his team’s innings ended at 135 all out with Alan Luke also impressing with the bat and making 34.
In reply Llangwm lost some early wickets but they managed to chase down the runs with a few wickets to spare with Shaun Waller making 40 and Andrew Harries contributing 35.
All rounder Thomas picked up a couple of wickets as did Sam Kurtz with the latter not making any impression with the bat but when he hits form Crymych will soon climb back up the table.