Somerset Cricket Club (Somerset won toss): Somerset (10pts) by St David’s by eight wickets St David’sKamau Leverock and Chris Douglas continued their blistering form with the bat to guide a rejuvenated Somerset to an eight-wicket victory over St David’s in an entertaining Premier Division Twenty20 affair at Somerset Cricket Club yesterday.The pair both struck half-centuries and produced a 116-run opening partnership in 9.3 overs that laid the foundation for the home side’s successful run chase in reply to St David’s’ 173 for four.Leverock hit 75 from 31 balls, which included six sixes and eight fours, before falling 25 runs shy of what would have been a third successive century.Douglas gathered an unbeaten 61 from 52 balls that contained four sixes and three fours. He also added 32 runs for the second-wicket with Dalin Richardson (13) and a further 30 in a match-winning third wicket stand with wicketkeeper Amari Ebbin (17) that clinched Somerset’s third win on the trot with 19 balls to spare.“Kamau continued on from what he has been doing the last couple of weeks and Chris took advantage and played well,” Jordan DeSilva, the Somerset captain, said. “It’s the most fluent that we’ve seen Chris since he’s been playing for us and then Dalin and Amari came in and did the job at the end.“I thought we were tremendous throughout because even once Bongy [Leverock] gave us the start Chris continued and then Dalin and Amari made sure the game never got tight. “To chase down almost 180 with three overs to spare against anyone is a good performance.”Derrick Brangman and Brian Hall claimed the only two Somerset wickets to fall.St David’s posted a challenging total after electing to bat and then receiving solid contributions from their top-order batsmen.Wicketkeeper Dean Simons smashed five sixes and as many fours in a breezy 61 from 45 balls, while Chare Smith and Justin Pitcher, the captain, both thumped 44 from 27 and 31 deliveries respectively.Somerset’s bowlers did well to contain the batsmen with only two fielders outside of the circle during the power play before Smith and Pitcher stepped on the gas later in the innings and powered the visiting side to a formidable total.Greg Maybury, who passed fitness test before the match, was the pick of the Somerset bowling with two for 27. Dalin Richardson and Terrence Corday accounted for the remaining St David’s wickets to fall.Somerset wicketkeeper Ebbin had another fine outing behind the stumps as he held two catches and stumped opposite number Simons.“I was happy with the score that they got, but I still thought that we gave them 20-30 runs extra,” DeSilva added. “But on the wicket that we were playing on, the fact that they lost only four wickets, 170 odd wasn’t really a score that bothered me.“Terence bowled well again, Greg bowled well and we still had one or two overs that went badly on our own account with overthrows, misfields and things like that. For the main part we were happy with [chasing] 170 odd.”n Meanwhile, St George’s beat Willow Cuts by 15 runs in another entertaining Premier Division Twenty20 contest at Wellington Oval yesterday.Macai Simmons struck a vital and timely 45 from 34 balls, that included six fours and a six, to lead a fightback after the home side slipped to 52 for three in the tenth over and carry them to a respectable 142 for nine after Cuts forfeited the toss.Treadwell Gibbons (17), Onias Bascome (12), Giovanni Santucci (11), Mishael Paynter (12) and Nzari Paynter (11 not out) were the remaining St George’s batsmen in double figures.Cuts conceded 29 extras, including 19 wides and eight no balls, which ultimately came back to haunt them.Kwasi James, Joseph Basden and Micah Simons claimed two wickets apiece for Cuts.Cuts lost openers Dwight Basden and Solomon Burrows in the power play in reply.However, useful knocks from Sergio Raynor (31), James (14), Chakote Basden (17) and wicketkeeper Shaquille Bean (20) put them back on track before a late collapse, which saw three wickets tumble in the space of 14 runs, condemned the visiting side to their fifth defeat of the season.Onias Bascome was the pick of the St George’s bowling with two for three while Detroy Smith, Simmons, Gibbons and Nzari Paynter claimed a wicket each.“After going 1-4 the first half of the season we had to come back stronger and it was a good game to start out with,” Bascome said. “We had some great bowling performances by Detroy Smith who gave us that good start we needed. Also Macai Simmons, with the bat, brought us back in the game after we got off to a slow start.“Key performances by key players, that’s what got us over the line.”Bascome added: “We were looking to get around 150 on the wicket that was out there. It was a lot of grass and the ball was doing a lot. It wasn’t easy for the batsmen out there so with the bowling that we have I felt that our total was ideal and we defended it.”St David’s†D Simons st Ebbin † b Richardson 61M Lowe c Ebbin b Corday 5C S Smith c Ebbin b Maybury 44*J Pitcher not out 44D L Brangman b Maybury 1Extras (w 4, nb 1, b 8, lb 5) 18 Total (4 wks; 20 overs) 173A Paynter, B Hall, E Ball, I Smith, K Hurdle, S Roberts-Pitcher did not batFall of Wicket: 1-68, 2-82, 3-165, 4-173Bowling: Maybury 4-0-27-2; Richardson 2-0-26-0; DeSilva 4-0-33-0; Leverock 4-0-32-0; Corday 4-0-21-1; Richardson 2-0-21-1SomersetK Leverock c Smith b Hall 75C R M Douglas not out 61D Richardson c Lowe b Brangman 13†A E Ebbin not out 17Extras (w 12) 12 Total (2 wkts; 16.5 overs) 178A Richardson, A Morrisey, G H Maybury, I Richardson, J Morrissey, J EveFall of Wicket: 1-116Bowling: Caesar 1-0-20-0; Pitcher 3-0-20-0; Smith 3-0-29-0; Crockwell 2-0-21-0; Brangman 4-0-37-1; Hurdle 1-0-15-0; Hall 2.5-0-36-1