Haverfordwest beat Whitland by 105 runs

Haverfordwest were inspired by run machine Simon ‘Doc’ Holliday as they overwhelmed Whitland in a one-sided Harrison-Allen Bowl semi-final at Carew.

Injury apart, Holliday has enjoyed a terrific season with the bat and pulverised a shell-shocked Whitland bowling attack which started badly and was never able to claw its way back, its cause not helped by four failed boundary catches.

Potter powers away at the start before Holliday moves into top gear

Town skipper Danny Potter reacted to his recent run of poor form by promoting himself to opener after winning the toss and blasting 26 runs off only 16 balls to take his team to 41 in four overs - before he went for one big hit too many and was adjudged lbw to Greg Sleep.

Holliday had been content to play second fiddle to Potter but then moved into top gear with an array of forceful shots in a stand of 113 with Lee Summons (23), before the latter was caught by Martin Thomas off his namesake Jonathan.

‘The Doc’ keeps going. . .

By then Holliday was well on his way to three figures and finally saluted his century with five fours and eight sixes.

He was particularly severe on Whitland skipper Matthew Davies, who bravely bowled his six overs from the clubhouse end and paid the price as Holliday punished him to such an extent that he conceded 86 in six overs before he gained a measure of revenge in having the centurion neatly stumped by Dylan Blain.

Holliday’s 106 was reached in only 63 balls and posted a real threat to property and spectators alike as he almost smashed the defibrillator attached to the clubhouse and had spectators scrambling to avoid injury from his raking off-drives as they were sitting on the seats near the short boundary.

James causes carnage with bat and ball!

Adam James was promoted in the batting order and added to the mayhem as he belted 33 runs in only 13 balls, including four massive sixes and a four before he fell to Jonathan Thomas; who was the pick of the Whitland bowling attack with 3 for 32 in five overs after he also removed Ben Field cheaply in the inevitable push for even more runs.

Whitland started their response knowing they needed big runs from their top four of Dylan Blain, Jack Bowen, Geraint Jones and Jonathan Thomas but the first three had departed with only 14 on the board as James steamed in from the clubhouse end and bowled Jack Bowen from his first delivery, had Geraint Jones caught in the covers by Dai Davies and Blain followed when he lofted a ball to Mikey Jones at wide mid-off.

'Titch' defiant...

Jonathan Thomas fell to the wily slow stuff of Clive Tucker when he’d reached 10 and the game was virtually over at 26 for 5 when Nathan Evans chased another delivery from Tucker and was easily stumped by Jack Scriven in an excellent 2 for 18 six-over spell from The Town’s veteran slow bowler.

It was left to Whitland skipper Matthew Davies to give a little respectability to their scoreline with an excellent 54 from 48 deliveries, including four fours and a cracking six over long on which he swatted with ease before finally falling to Lee Summons.

Martin Thomas managed 14 before he was stumped by Scriven off Holliday as part of a 2 for 28 haul by The Town century-maker and it wasn’t long before Whitland conceded defeat because Wayne Howells was unable to bat after injuring his foot after bowling only 2.2 overs.

So Haverfordwest take on Lawrenny in the final at Cresselly on Saturday, August 31st in what promises to be a really intriguing battle between two very good limited-overs cricketing teams.

SCORECARD:

Haverfordwest Batting:

Danny Potter lbw b Gregg Sleep 26

Simon Holliday st Dylan Blain b Matthew Davies 106

Lee Summons ct Martin Thomas b Jonathan Thomas 23

Adam James ct Jack Bowen b Jonathan Thomas 33

Ben Field b Jonathan Thomas 4

Archie Thomas not out 0

Dai Davies not out 6

Extras 12

Total (5 wickets) 210

Bowling: Geraint Jones 2.4-0-35-0; Greg Sleep 5-0-30-0; Wayne Howells 2.2-0-23-0; Matthew Davies 6-0-86-1; Jonathan Thomas 5-0-32-3

Whitland Batting:

Dylan Blain ct Mikey Jones b Adam James 2

Jack Bowen b Adam James 0

Geraint Jones ct Dai Davies b Adam James 5

Jonathan Thomas b Clive Tucker 10

Matthew Davies b Lee Summons 54

Nathan Evans st Jack Scriven b Clive Tucker 3

Greg Sleep run out 7

Martin Thomas st Jack Scriven b Simon Holliday 1

Adam Davies b Simon Holliday 1

Gethin Scourfield not out 2

Wayne Howells (Did not bat – injured)

Extras 7

Total (all out) 105

Bowling: Adam James 4-0-15-3; Clive Tucker 6-0-18-2; Archie Thomas 4-0-28-0; Simon Holliday 4-0-28-2; Lee Summons 2-0-15-1.

Umpires: Dave Brandon & Steve Blowes

Scorers: Jayne Cole & Steve Blowes