CHAMPIONS Neyland had to settle for a draw in their game with Cresselly on Sunday (Apr 28).
Neyland batted first and made a good total of 221-4 from their 45 overs with Nick Koomen scoring an unbeaten century.
Cresselly batted well in their reply too but fell just seventeen runs short of their victory target.
Neyland batted first after Cresselly had won the toss but lost Gregg Miller and Ashley Sutton early on.
Miller was caught by Nielson Cole off the bowling of Dan James for a duck and Sutton was caught by Alex Bayley off the bowling of Tom Arthur for a score of one.
That left Neyland on 19-2 but Koomen was joined at the crease by Andrew Miller and the pair shared 67 runs for the third wicket.
Miller hit three boundaries in a knock of 25 but he was then caught by Daniel Sutton off the bowling of Mike Shaw.
Koomen and new man Henry Durrant then took control for the visitors with an excellent stand of 124, seeing them past 200 runs.
Durrant smacked six fours and two sixes in his knock of 60 before he was eventually caught by Iwan Izzard off the bowling of Arthur.
Koomen reached his century and went on to finish not out on 127, hitting eleven fours and five maximums in the process.
That saw Neyland to their total and Cresselly knew they would need to beat their best to reach their target.
They began well as Dan Sutton and Phil Williams shared 52 runs for the first wicket. Sutton was the first to fall on a score of 34 (six fours) when he was caught by Koomen off the bowling of Sean Hannon.
Williams then shared another 48 runs with Simon Cole for the second wicket before the former was stumped by Sean Hannon off the bowling of Andrew Miller also on a score of 34 (four fours, one six).
Alex Bayley only added four runs before he was caught by Sutton off the bowling of Andrew Miller.
Simon Cole passed his half century but then saw batting partner Izzard out for a score of 11, caught by Gregg Miller off the bowling of Koomen.
Dan James scored 7 but he was then caught by Geraint Rees off the bowling of Miller who picked up his three wickets for the loss of 45 runs.
That left the home side on 147-5 but Cole and Ryan Lewis shared 34 runs for the sixth wicket.
Lewis made 23 but was then caught by Koomen giving Henry Durrant his first wicket of the game.
Cole batted on as he made his way to a score of 76 with ten fours before he was caught by Andrew Miller off the bowling of Nick Koomen.
That left Cresselly on 201-7 and all but ended their chances of victory as Mike Shaw finished not out on 8 leaving the home side on 205-7 from their 45 overs.
On Saturday (May 4), Neyland are at home to Burton while Cresselly are away to Saundersfoot.
