Neyland Match Report
Neyland vs StIshmaels. League, Monday 31st May 2010. Umpires: David Loosemore & Richard Merriman.Having been shot out for a paltry 66 only two days before, in the Saturday league fixture away in Herbrandston, Neyland were looking to restore some confidence to the batting line-up. StIshmaels would have been hoping to limit Neyland to another low score when Stewart Kimpton won the toss and invited Neyland to bat.
That was probably the one point of optimism in the game for 'Tish, as Paul Murray once again looked in great form from the outset, and set about the StIshmaels bowling with relish. Sean Hannon supported Murray to such good effect that by only the 19th over Neyland had raced to 100 without loss. Both Murray (62) and Hannon (26) fell shortly thereafter, and the run rate slowed a little as new pairing Andrew Miller and Nicholas Koomen played themselves in, but once they were in full flow a huge score looked inevitable as the sun blazed down on the Neyland pitch, which again looked in great shape. As the score reached 162 for 2 in the 35th over Koomen was called for 'one short' and admitted to his batting partner that he was not fit enough. His partner was too exhausted to reply, but the awaiting Neyland batsmen shouted unsympathetically for the pair to run harder and run themselves out if necessary to give the next man a chance!
In the final overs Miller smashed 14 from one Andrew Pawlett over, while Koomen went into overdrive as the innings neared it's conclusion, with some classic powerful cricket shots. It was Koomen at his best, driving beautifully through the off side, and even manufacturing great strokes as the innings neared completion, with one particularly memorable moment when he opened both his body and the bat face to smash a near yorker length delivery for six over the point boundary. Koomen took 20 from Andrew Williams' 12th and final over to leave the highly respected bowler dejected with figures of none for 106!
Koomen finished unbeaten on 79 not out, with Miller 66 not out, giving Neyland a huge total of 258 for 2, a bigger score than anyone could remember Neyland ever having achieved before.
After tea, Gary Lloyd held another excellent slip catch off Patrick Hannon to remove Tish skipper Kimpton for just 2, Paul Murray threw powerfully from backward point to run out Gareth Cheshire for 14, and after two boundaries Peter Bradshaw was caught by Patrick Hannon off bowling of Henry Durrant. These three wickets effectively brought to an end any thoughts Tish may have had of competing with the Neyland total. Akif Iqbal and Andrew Pawlett blazed away but did not stay around long. Andrew Williams batted determinedly, albeit he was dropped fairly early on in the gulley. Williams went on to ensure Tish did not lose the game, but they did not get close enough to the Neyland score to secure any draw points either. Last man Paul Palmer snuck a single from the first ball of the last over and Williams dead batted the final five deliveries to ensure Neyland could not claim the win, and would have to settle for all 15 draw points instead, to add to the 9 bonus points, giving a healthy 24 points for the days efforts.
The result took Neyland up to fourth spot in the table:
Carew 150 pts
Haverfordwest 131 pts
Cresselly 129 pts
Neyland 120 pts
