Cousins Allan and Chris Douglas showed no mercy for their former club after both smashed boundary-filled centuries as St David’s hit a mammoth 458 in a 374-run win over Cleveland at Wellington Oval yesterday

The Douglas’s shared an unbeaten double-century stand for the fourth wicket.

The pair came together in the 28th over at 183 for three and in the next 22 overs launched an assault on the Cleveland bowlers to post the season’s highest team total, which included 16 penalty runs imposed on Cleveland by the umpires for a slow overs rate. Cleveland toiled in the heat after captain Dennis Musson won the toss and invited the One Premier Division leaders to bat first. They later managed just 84 in reply, bowled out in 22.3 overs.

Sending St David’s to bat was a decision that Musson would regret as his team was reduced to nine, then ten players on the field during much of the assault by the Douglas pair, with Damon Rabain going off injured. Young young spinner Isiah Creighton then walked off and left the ground in frustration after bowling two overs and giving up 23 runs.

Allan Douglas ended the innings with a flurry, smashing Bryce Daniels for four straight sixes in the final over to finish on a career-best 160 not out from 13 sixes and ten fours. Chris, who beat Allan to his century, finished not out on 114, hitting five sixes and nine fours.

The total was so big for a 50-over game that the two scorers ran out of numbers in the total runs column which had a maximum allowance for 400 runs. The two batsmen reached that mark with two overs still remaining. Afterwards Allan was unaware that he finished on 160.

“These last two seasons I’ve been seeing the ball real good and it does’t matters who bowls to me right now,” said Allan, who was Cleveland’s captain two years ago before his move to St David’s.

“The way I’m feeling right now there aren’t too many bowlers on the island who can get me out if I’m focused enough. I’m not really an offside player but I like to hit straight, so for me to get a lot of runs through the covers and down to mid-off is a bonus for me.”

Allan and Chris came together in captain Musson’s final over, leaving Cleveland without their most experienced bowler for the crucial last third of the St David’s innings when runs flowed. The pair added 259 in just under 22 overs, with no bowler escaping the punishment. Steven Bremar went for 100 runs in his ten overs, Justin Talbot 71 in four, Mackai Young 76 in ten and Jelani Richardson 43 off just five overs after Musson claimed two for 42 from his spell. Treadwell Gibbons, claimed the other wicket, giving up 44 runs in seven overs.

“When you’re an experienced bowler like the skipper and you don’t have much bowling depth you have to take on both roles, so hats on to him for sticking around and digging it out for Cleveland,” said Douglas of his former team-mate.

Douglas had some blisters on his left hand from batting in training during the week with St David’s, but that didn’t prevent him from smashing the ball all around the ground, though he insisted there wasn’t any extra motivation playing against his former team. “No, that wasn’t on my mind, what was on my mind was being in the middle with my cousins and creating history with a 250-plus run partnership,” he stressed.

“That’s history for me, and that’s what I kept telling him, that we can create some history here. I didn’t even know I got 160! I got to 100 and told him [Chris] that I was going for my highest score which was 131.

“I’m just trying to get into some form for Cup Match. My average before this game was 30 runs.”

St David’s hardly missed captain OJ Pitcher, who was out with the flu, as opening pair Delyone Borden (43) and Shannon Rayner (83) put on 93 in 18 overs. Rayner, who finished with six fours and four sixes, then added another 77 for the second wicket with Chris Douglas who came in at No 3 in the 26th over and hit five sixes and nine fours during his stay.

Cleveland’s reply never gained any momentum after losing their first two wickets in the fourth and fifth overs with only 19 runs on the board. Four more wickets went down in quick time to make if 56 for six.

Temiko Wilson, batting at No 4, was the highest scorer with 21 not out while Treadwell Gibbons, coming in at No 9, scored 16 before Allan Douglas held a firmly struck drive on the extra cover boundary to dismiss him off Justin Pitcher’s bowling.

The previous over from Pitcher saw Gibbons hit Pitcher for a couple of fours, including one through the covers. Douglas was placed there and in the next over Gibbons went for another cover drive and offered Douglas a chest-high catch.

Cejay Outerbridge led the St David’s bowling with four for 37 off seven overs while Justin Pitcher took two for 20 off 4.3 overs, ending the game when he fielded a shot from Wilson in mid-crease as he called for a single. Pitcher’s direct hit caught Rabain out of his crease at the bowler’s end.