Under 11s (173 all out)
West Glamorgan Under 11s (135 all out)
Pembrokeshire came away from the heartland of cricket at West Glamorgan with an excellent win in a game that could have gone either way. The winning margin of 38 runs was due to the fighting spirit and character of the whole team, who fought back when West Glamorgan were in the driving seat with 10 overs to go and seven wickets outstanding.
Pembrokeshire lost the toss and were given first use of a good wicket at Clydach. Kurtis Marsh and Alex Codd put on 36 in 12 overs, before Codd (20) was bowled by G. John. Scott Thomas and James Phillips bowled tight spells for West Glamorgan. Scott Jones and Kurtis put on 99 for the next wicket before Marsh (41) fell lbw to Matthew Blake, who ended with 2-15. Jones pushed on to 62, before being well caught by Scott Thomas off R. Phillips, who ended up with 2-9. Ewan Meredith, making his debut for Pembrokeshire, batted well, together with Jacob Knox, who must now be looking to move up the order next week.
Pembrokeshire ended on 173 all out in 37 overs.
West Glamorgan's reply started strongly, with Matthew Blake and Anthony Thomas batting well and being particularly harsh on some short bowling by the Pembrokeshire team.
George Williams bowled a very tight spell, conceding only five runs, together with Tomas Lewis. West Glam reached 68 in 17 overs.
It was now the spin kings of Codd, Jones and Marsh who slowed the run rate down, with Codd and Jones bowling five successive maidens between them.
However, West Glam responded strongly, with Matthew Blake and Scott Thomas throwing caution to the wind. They took the score up to 97 in the 26th over, before two excellent run outs by Geraint and Scott Jones, aided by Philip Llewellyn, swung the game again.
West Glam only needed 60 off the last 10 overs, with seven wickets in hand.
However, after drinks, an uplift in the Pembrokeshire fielding and the introduction of Marsh swung the game. Marsh clean bowled Blake for 49 and ended up with excellent figures of 5-16-7, including a well-deserved hat-trick.
West Glam finished on 135 all out in the 39th over.
The game provided some excellent learning for both sides, with the only down side for Pembrokeshire being an injury to George Williams.
The team is now starting to gel together and learn the game of cricket, with all performances improving. It was only fitting that the Pembrokeshire team voted Kurtis Marsh man of the match on his birthday weekend for his 41 runs and five wickets.