It was two wins for Pembroke Dock in the second round of fixtures in the 2020 Pembrokeshire Indoor Cricket League yesterday.
After Llanrhian had edged past Johnston in the opening game, The Dock beat both those sides in what turned out to be three competitive affairs.
Match 1: Johnston (86-4) lost to Llanrhian (87-4) by 2 wickets
Two sides new to the indoor league kicked things off as a stand of 76 between Iwan James and Rhys Price saw Llanrhian fight back from the brink to beat Johnston.
Put into bat, Johnston started steadily as Hafiz Farooq reached 15 before being run out by Ben Jones, and opening partner Mark Hicks reached 17 before mishitting a pull shot off Jack Jones straight into the hands of Rhys Price.
It was the younger Jones who then ran out Geno Cleal (8) and the Gethin Bateman (0) was caught behind by Iwan James to give Price a wicket – but No 4 Josh Hicks kept things going.
He twice cracked fours against the back wall en route to 21 not out whole Emma Summons (0 not out) stayed with him at the end – but it was extras that proved top scorer with The Cows gifting their opponents 25 extra runs.
And the Llanrhian reply looked over before it began as Paul Lewis set off for a risky single only for Jones to be run out without facing a ball, and Mark Hicks then clean bowled Lewis (5) and Ben Jones first ball, while Farooq skittled Karl Davies (0) to leave the score at 11-2 after two overs.
But then Price and James rebuilt matters, taking 21 off one Bateman over with Johnston also guilty of giving away 25 extras.
With two overs to go 23 was still needed but 17 then came off Josh Hicks in the ninth, including a vital four from James.
Bateman then bowled the final over and had two dot balls first up, but then Price cracked a four and two needed from three balls, hit back to back deliveries to the side wall to seal the win and finish 37 not out – with James unbeaten on 20.
Match 2: Pembroke Dock (89 for 5) beat Llanrhian (73 all out) by 16 runs
An inspired innings from Scott Griffiths in ensured Pembroke Dock got off to a winning start after being in early trouble against Llanrhian.
Griffiths played as ‘last man standing’ with The Dock five wickets down, and made 51 not out with what proved to be a match winning knock.
Llanrhian’s opening bowlers had been right on the money as Adam Phillips (1) was bowled by Karl Davies, and George Smith (5) fell the same way to Jack Jones.
Archie Hillier-Wood reached 11 before his top edge rebounded off the wall and into the arms of Ben Jones, giving Lewis another wickets – and the same bowler soon had another when Billy Wood picked out Jack Jones without scoring.
And when Jamie White was run out after a mix up with Griffiths – the pair stopping after mistakenly thinking the ball had gone for four, The Dock were struggling to make an overall score of 50.
But then Griffiths took over, and not only kept the innings going until the end but really upped the scoring rate – cracking two fours and super straight six off Ben Jones in the final over to reach his half century and take his team to 89-5.
After their heroics in game one Price and James were sent out to open for Llanrhian, but both were clean bowled by Smith (2-11) having made 10 and 7 respectively.
Lewis (6) struck a brilliant straight six off Griffiths, but tried the same shot very next ball but didn’t get the same connection and departed having been caught and bowled.
Jack and Ben Jones kept things ticking over but with 22 needed off the final over, Jamie White held his nerve to clean bowl Ben (15), and after Jack (22) was run out - before Karl Davies (4) was stumped off the final ball to round off a 16 run with for The Dock.
Match 3: Pembroke Dock (113 for 4) beat Johnston (82 for 4) by 31 runs
Scott Griffiths again played the vital anchor role for The Dock as he batted sensibly to stay unbeaten again, this time on 20, and also produced excellent figures of 2 for 8 in his two-over stint.
Put in to bat first, The Dock started well as they sped to 27 in only two overs before Rob Hearne was run out seeking a risky single and departed for nine runs, and George Smith (17) gave a soft return catch to Josh Hicks’ slow stuff after belting a straight six and four in that over.
Billy Wood was bowled for five runs by a rare straight ball from Gethin Bateman, who conceded four wides on the trot straight afterwards, but then Griffiths and John Camani contributed 44 runs together before the latter retired on a strongly-hit 27.
Adam Phillips added 11 late runs from No 6 and Griffiths belted a big straight six from the final ball of their allotted ten overs to take them to the highest score of the day on 113 for 4.
Johnston knew they needed a solid start but endured a disastrous first over as Farooq and Mark Hicks fell for ducks to Camani. Cleal struck 15 but gave a soft catch to Billy Wood, via the side wall netting – and Griffiths claimed a second scalp as Bateman managed to knock his own wickets over.
But Josh Hicks, who had retired on 25, came back in and shared a stand 36 with Emma Summons (10 not out), smashing four fours and three straight sixes in his undefeated 46 – but to no avail as The Dock eased home by 31 runs.
Umpires: Allan Hansen and Ian Milson.
Scorer: Gracie Morris.
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