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St David’s regain Eastern Counties with emphatic win

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(Photo by Glenn Tucker)Victory: St David’s fans celebrate with their team who won the Eastern Counties at Lords.

By Colin ThompsonSt David’s brought Bailey’s Bay’s reign as champions to a grinding halt at Lords today, defeating their fierce rivals by six wickets to regain the coveted Eastern Counties trophy.Disciplined bowling backed up by some sharp fielding saw the Islanders restrict Bay to a paltry total before cruising to victory in their reply with plenty of overs to spare.Skipper OJ Pitcher (17) and Sammy Robinson (8) produced an unbroken 23-run fifth wicket partnership that carried the Islanders safely across the line.Robinson hit the winning runs off Terryn Fray before he and Pitcher were engulfed by ecstatic team-mates and fans who invaded the pitch.“Everyone had a role to play and did their part and it’s just brilliant when you prepare to do things and the guys follow instructions,” a jubilant Islanders’ coach Wendell Smith told The Royal Gazette. “I drilled it into their head that we are going to go on that field and dictate the tempo from ball one, but the toss was big.“It was a total team effort and this is for Landro (late St David’s batsman Landro Minors), OJ’s mother (the late Rosanna Pitcher) and all those elder St David’s Islanders who love this community. We have county back and the world is back at peace now.”St David’s lost four wickets chasing Bay’s modest total but always seemed to be in control of their own destiny as they steadily marched towards their target.Guest player Oronde Bascome (0) fell for a duck in the first over of the innings after being trapped leg before in front of the stumps off the bowling of Kyle Hodsoll (1-21).Bay struck again six overs later when teenage all rounder Azendea Furbert broke the stumps with a direct throw from mid wicket to catch Delyone Borden (5) shy of the crease at the non-striker’s end after being sent back by Chris Douglas.Douglas kept the scoreboard ticking over with some heavy hitting. But he eventually became the third Islanders’ wicket to fall in the 19th over after nicking one behind to wicketkeeper Sinclair Smith off the bowling of Burton Outerbridge (2-15) who was Bay’s most effective bowler.Douglas blasted four fours and a six off Outerbridge that sailed over long on in a robust knock of 37 from 44 balls and dominated a 34-run third wicket partnership with wicketkeeper Fiqre Crockwell — St David’s’ highest of the innings.Crockwell (18) hung around for another six overs before offering a soft return catch to Outerbridge after failing to pick a slower delivery to leave the Islanders poised at 69 for four.But any thoughts Bay might’ve had of making further inroads were cruelly dashed as skipper OJ Pitcher and Robinson put up the shutters.Bay used seven bowlers in vain to try and dislodge their opponents.Earlier, St David’s laid the foundation for their convincing win with a flawless display in the field that kept Bay on the back foot.St David’s made the breakthrough in the sixth over when opener Fray (3) was run out at the striker’s end, wicketkeeper Crockwell breaking the stumps after Justin Pitcher whipped the ball in from point.Sinclair Smith (12) and Christino Smith (10) carried the score along to 29 before the former chased after a Justin Pitcher delivery pitched well outside of off stump and was caught at second slip by OJ Pitcher, who took a low catch diving to his right.Bay lost another wicket without any addition to the score after Christino Smith was beaten by the flight and turn of a Delyone Borden delivery (1-18) and was duly stumped behind by the alert Crockwell.Skipper Stephen Outerbridge (13) played some attractive shots down the ground before he got an edge and was caught behind by Crockwell off the bowling of Justin Pitcher in the 22nd over to push Bay into deeper trouble at 47 for four.St David’s skipper OJ Pitcher made another tactical change before the start of the 32nd over, replacing Justin Pitcher with Rudell Pitcher at the northern end of the ground and the ploy worked like a charm as the latter bowler plucked the heart out of Bay’s middle order.The third change bowler snapped a 23-run fifth wicket partnership between Ryan Steede (20) and Rodney Trott (6) in the 36th over after rattling the latter batsman’s stumps with an inswinger that jagged back off the seam.Trott’s dismissal triggered a collapse which saw Bay’s last five wickets tumble for 19 runs.Rudell Pitcher, who tormented the batsmen bowling down a steady line and length, then cleaned up Furbert’s (0) stumps with another potent inswinger to place himself on a hat-trick. But he was eventually denied the feat after he tossed down a straighter delivery to Cal Dill (8) that held its line outside off stump.Bay lost their seventh wicket in the next over after George O’Brien Jr bowled Steede with the first delivery of his second spell from the southern end of the ground to redeem himself for wasting the new ball earlier by regularly straying down the legside.SBay were on the ropes at 75 for seven at lunch with Dill and Lateef Trott the unbeaten batsmen at the crease.O’Brien continued to pitch the ball up and vary his pace in his second spell and was further rewarded in the first over after lunch when he bowled Lateef Trott (2) with a straighter delivery.A fired-up Rudell Pitcher then claimed his third wicket when he had Dill (8) caught behind by Crockwell before tailender Hodsoll (0) was run out at the striker’s end to bring the curtains down on the innings.Medium pacer Rudell Pitcher (3-12) led the Islanders’ bowling while Justin Pitcher (2-18) and O’Brien (2-29) seized two wickets each.Eastern Counties Second RoundBailey’s Bay v St David’sSt David’s won by six wickets at Lords on SaturdayBailey’s BayS Smith c OJ Pitcher b J Pitcher 12T Fray run out (J Pitcher) 3C Smith stpwk F Crockwell b D Borden 10S Outerbridge (capt) cwk Crockwell b J Pitcher 13R Steede b G O’Brien Jr 20R Trott b R Pitcher 6A Furbert b R Pitcher 0C Dill cwk Crockwell b R Pitcher 8L Trott b O’Brien 2K Hodsoll run out (sub A Lamb) 7B Outerbridge not out 0Extras (2-lb, 2-w, 4-nb) 10Total (all out, 40.1 overs) 89Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-29, 3-29, 4-47, 5-70, 6-70, 7-71, 8-75, 9-88Bowling: G O’Brien 9.1-1-29-2: D Hollis 9-5-9-0: J Pitcher 9-3-18-2: D Borden 8-3-18-1: R Pitcher 5-0-12-3St David’sC Douglas cwk S Smith b B Outerbridge 37O Bascome lbw K Hodsoll 0D Borden run out (A Furbert) 5F Crockwell c&b Outerbridge 18OJ Pitcher (capt) not out 17S Robinson not out 8Extras (2-b, 3-lb, 1-w, 1-nb) 7Total: (for four wickets, 34.3 overs) 92Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-26, 3-60, 4-69Bowling: K Hodsoll 9-3-21-1; L Trott 7-2-20-0; R Trott 7-0-10-0; C Dill 1-1-0-0; B Outerbridge 8-2-15-2; R Steede 1-0-2-0; T Fray 1.3-0-13-0.Umpires: R Dill, O AndradeToss: St David’s