Police 246-8

St David's 232-9

Police duo George O'Brien and Traddie Simpson put St David's to the sword with both bat and ball at Lord's yesterday.

O'Brien hit an unbeaten 49 and then helped Simpson rip through the home side's top order as Police grabbed a nervy 14-run win.

Chasing 247 to win, St David's very nearly pulled off an unlikely victory, and only a fine last over from Rohan Henry prevented his side from throwing away a game that they should have won much earlier than they did.

Having reduced their hosts to 38-4, Police were in complete control and cruising to victory. Simpson had St David's openers Chris Foggo and Elandro Minors caught by wicketkeeper Vincent Bradshaw, and in-between O'Brien ripped out Chris Pitcher's off-stump with a ball that nipped back.

By the time Simpon had Justin Pitcher caught in the covers by Dennis Archer, St David's were reeling.

That Police let their opponents back into the game says more about their own deficencies than it does about the quality of the opposition.

Too often the visiting side did the simple things poorly, and could have had few complaints if the four-dropped catches and countless fielding errors had come back to haunt them.

Justin Pitcher's dismissal brought Lionel Cann to the crease, the most useful thing the former managed to do all day.

Cann's entrance brought about a change of fortune, and despite then losing Delyone Borden with the score on 65, Cann and Arthur Pitcher took the game away from St David's. They rode their luck at times, with Cann being dropped twice, once on 19, by Freestone Hurdle, and again on 44 by O'Brien.

The St David's skipper passed 50 and was pushing his side towards victory when he had a rush of blood to the head that probably cost them the game. With Pitcher well set, and Police seemingly devoid of ideas, Cann played across the line to a straight delivery from Archer and the complection of the game changed. Even then St David's might have still won, but immediately after reaching his 50, Pitcher hit the next ball straight at Lovintz Tota to give Archer his second wicket.

Del Hollis, the St David's spin bowler, hit an unbeaten 24 to give his side a chance, and with the help of young Shay Pitcher (19) he nearly managed it. But in the end the task was just too great.

Hollis had done as much as anyone to give his side a reasonable target to chase, and had Cann not made a glaring tactical error mid-way through the Police innings things might have been very different.

With Justin and Arthur Pitcher proving surprisingly ineffective against the Police batsmen, Cann turned to spin-duo Borden and Hollis.

From a position of strength having scored 54 in the first ten overs, Borden and Hollis stiffled the Police batsmen and in the next 12 overs took two wickets and conceded just 20 runs between them.

At this stage Police were struggling, and it was somewhat surprising to see Cann remove the vice-like grip his spinners had given him on the game.

In Cann's defence his two opening bowlers showed little signs of making a breakthrough, and he must have had half an eye on the closing stages of the game. But he still would have been better squeezing the life out of the Police when he had the chance.

The Police contributed somewhat to their own problems, their running between the wickets was so bad, they left another 25-runs out on the field by failing to run the first run fast enough.

They were helped though by a St David's attack that conceded a whopping 36 extras, with 28 wides, and a blistering display of batting from O'Brien, who hit four sixes on his way to a 38-ball 49.

In the end Police just about deserved their victory, but only because they made fewer errors than their opponents.

Southampton Rangers 162 Devonshire Rec. 53

A 75-run partnership between Malachi Jones and veteran Keith Wainwright saved Southampton Rangers blushes and kept them on top of the premier league pile after the weekend's fixtures.

In a match that was far from pretty, the game had entertainment with nine batsmen walking back to the pavilion without getting off the mark.

A look at the both teams batting cards would have spectators amazed at how either side managed to score any runs, yet Rangers opener Wainwright (46) and Jones (45) rescued the West Enders from posting a disgraceful total.

Losing three batsmen in the space of 13 runs, Rangers were 45 for three when Jones strolled to the wicket and produced a partnership that ultimately changed the game.

The two laid a foundation that could have seen their side post a formidable total against their winless opponents, until Jones was bowled by Wilbur Burt with the score on 120 for four.

A collapse ensued as Rangers lost their next five wickets for a meagre 12 runs. Burt was the pick of the Devonshire bowlers with figures of four for 34.

The bowlers also gave Rangers an extra cushion, throwing down 36 extras, the third highest total of the match.

In reply, Devonshire never mounted a sustainable push for the victory as they lost wickets at regular intervals on their way to the season's second lowest total thus far, 53.

Tori Henry was the top scorer with 11 as they were bowled out, with 19 extras given up by Rangers.

This horrendous total included six ducks and only one batsman reaching double figures.

Rangers' player/coach Janeiro Tucker had awesome figures of six for eight runs off just –6.2 overs.