Nervous times

11:44am Friday 9th May 2008

Haverfordwest (99 all out) drew with Carew (98 for 7).

Haverfordwest and Carew battled in a nerve-jangling draw on the Racecourse.

The visitors were unable to score 100 runs in 52 overs, despite 63 not out from Mr Reliable' Nick Scourfield. Bowlers were on top throughout the match played in difficult conditions.

Carew needed six runs from the last two balls bowled by Steve Phillips but as the Town ringed the boundary with nine fielders Scourfield could only manage two twos and so the homesters had the better of the draw.

This result looked out of sight at tea after they had been dismissed for 99 in 38 overs after collapsing from 62 for 2.

Danny Potter was the top Haverfordwest batsman as he contributed 38 (five fours) before lobbing a ball from Simon Wood to Phil Jones in the covers.

Dai Davies (16) was the only other Town batsman to reach double figures as Wood ended up with deserved figures of 5 for 25 alongside two wickets apiece by Tim Hicks and Darren Thomas.

Carew found it just as tough to score runs after tea as they limped to 30 for 3 in 24 overs as Dai Davies (3 for 18) and Steve Phillips (2 for 29) were the main wicket-takers and Phil Kirkby (1 for 19) and Nick Dyer (1 for 11) bowled miserly 12-over stints.

Amazingly for a match where there was such strength in depth in the batting of both sides, only Nick Scourfield managed double figures, and he was dropped when he had scored just four runs.

He made Haverfordwest pay for this early lapse with an otherwise faultless performance, passing 50 with a calm assurance and reaching 63 with just one of two Carew boundaries in their extended innings in this absorbing clash.

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