Stovell and Celestine set tone for Rangers
A blistering opening partnership of 95 between Dion Stovell and James Celestine helped Southampton Rangers to an easy Lindo’s Twenty20 victory over Somerset Bridge.
Each fell just short of a half-century as Rangers posted 148, a target way too high for a Somerset side that laboured to 40 all out.
At one stage, Rangers appeared on course for a colossal score, as Stovell and Celestine racked up 89 without loss from the first nine overs.
The scoring rate slowed as both openers were dismissed, however, with Celestine bowled for 46 as he swung and missed a delivery from Sean Riley, and Stovell stumped on 46 after doing the same to Jermaine Salaam.
Somerset showed admirable fight in then taking six wickets for 29, with Salaam, the spinner, grabbing a further three wickets and finishing with tidy figures of four for 20.
Janeiro Tucker, the Rangers captain, gave a late boost to the total with a quick-fire 20 from 14 balls, before being excellently caught on the boundary by Salaam from the final ball of the innings.
Somerset struggled throughout their innings, with batsman after batsman complaining he’d got out to a ball that kept low; seven were bowled, and another was trapped leg before.
Ryan Belboda took three key wickets during a miserly spell, with Vernon Eve and Derrick Brangman getting three and two respectively. Noel Woods, the Somerset captain, was the only home player to make double figures.
Somerset Bridge v Southampton Rangers
White Hill Field (Southampton Rangers won toss): Southampton Rangers beat Somerset Bridge by 108 runs
Southampton Rangers
D Stovell st Bean b Salaam 46
J Celestine b Riley 46
A Dore lbw b Salaam 1
K Tucker b Salaam 2
S Rayner b Riley 11
R Simons b Salaam 4
*J Tucker c Salaam b Woods 20
D Brangman not out 6
Extras (lb 3, w 6, nb 3) 12
Total (7 wkts, 20 overs) 148
R Belboda, V Eve and †A Ebbin did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-95, 2-96, 3-107, 4-108, 5-114, 6-124, 7-148.
Bowling: Woods 4-0-23-1; Ball 4-0-37-0; Trott 2-0-21-0; Riley 4-0-29-2; Salaam 4-1-20-4; Shepherd 2-0-15-0.
Somerset Bridge
J Salaam b K Tucker 1
†J Bean b Belboda 4
R Shepherd lbw b Belboda 4
S Riley b Belboda 0
E Greenland b Brangman 0
W Ball b Eve 2
C Trott b Brangman 1
*N Woods c Stovell b J Tucker 11
S Burrows c J Tucker b Eve 4
A Tucker b Eve 7
K Armstrong not out 0
Extras (b 3, w 2, nb 1) 6
Total (15.1 overs) 40
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-9, 3-9, 4-10, 5-12, 6-15, 7-21, 8-25, 9-40.
Bowling: K Tucker 2-3-6-1; Brangman 4-1-9-2; Belboda 3-1-4-3; Eve 4-1-17-3; J Tucker 1.1-0-1-1.
Umpires: L Harnett and A Knight.
