PHC 71 A sparkling innings of 98 by skipper Olin Jones combined with a haul of five wickets for 21 by Janeiro Tucker inspired Southampton Rangers to an emphatic 189-run victory over PHC in a Premier Division match at Southampton Oval yesterday.

With Jones in terrific form, the home side reached their formidable total with relative ease, Jones and his opening partner Sheridan Ming (25) putting on 60 for the first wicket.

When that stand concluded the PHC bowling came in for another mauling as Jones and Keith Wainwright (74) added 123 for the second wicket before Jones was dismissed with the score on 183.

This was followed by another sound stand with Wainwright and Tucker (40 not out) adding 61 for the third wicket.

Jones finished with a six and 14 fours while Wainwright stroked two sixes and six fours and Tucker, while facing just 19 balls, hammered two sixes and six fours before Southampton declared at 3.00 p.m.

Skipper Cal Waldron was PHC's top bowler with two for 51 off 17 overs, including five maidens.

PHC's slim chance of overhauling such a total disappeared early on when both of their openers, Antoine Greene and Alfred Carter, were dismissed for ducks.

Skipper Waldron added some resistance with his team's top score of 17, but with Joshawa Butler (13 not out) being the only other batsmen in double figures it wasn't long before the inevitable ending came.

Spearheaded by the bowling of Tucker and Gary Crofton, the home side cruised to a comfortable victory.

Tucker finished with five wickets just 6.5 overs while Crofton snatched three for 13 off seven overs, including three maidens.

Bailey's Bay 253-8 Western Stars 121-6 Two hours lost at the start while final preparations were made to the pitch proved costly as this top clash ended in a tame draw at Sea Breeze Oval.

The match did not start until 1.00 p.m. and Bay batted until 5.12 before declaring at 253-8.

Stars, who looked interested in the challenge initially, eventually settled for a draw at 121-6 when bad light ended the contest with five of the final 20 overs remaining.

Glenn Smith-Blakeney led Bay's batting with a dashing 85 which included 12 fours and three sixes. He shared in a second wicket stand of 70 with opener Ricky Hill (24) before eventually being fourth out when the score was 146.

Irving Romaine, Bay's Camel Cup hero, kept the momentum going in the middle order with 57 while Corey Hill supported with 23.

Arnold Manders, who dismissed Smith-Blakeney, Ricky Hill and captain Charlie Marshall for just six, finished with three for 45 from 17 overs. Dale Fox came back to take his two wickets in his second spell while Gary Brangman also had two wickets, though at a costly 64 runs from 10 overs.

Stars, who began their innings at 5.28, lost key batsmen Treadwell Gibbons and Albert Steede in the second and third overs with just 11 on the board. And when Andre Manders was third out on 21, it looked like Bay might pull off another victory over their arch rivals.

However, Arnold Manders steadied the ship for the league champions with an unbeaten 61 which included six fours and three sixes as he continued to play aggressively.

By the time the final 20 overs began, a draw looked the obvious outcome as Stars were 61-3 at that stage. Even though Bay took three more wickets the presence of Manders was reassuring to Stars as they hung on for the draw.

St. David's 117 Willow Cuts 119-2 Early signs point to another tough season for St. David's in the Premier Division after Willow Cuts sent them crashing to their second straight loss in the Open competition yesterday.

The home team were moving along steadily at 59-1 with Eddie Lamb and Dean Pitcher sharing in what would be their biggest stand of 39 for the second wicket.

But after Lamb went for 27, the collapse began as four wickets went down for 16 runs to leave the Islanders in trouble at 75-5, a couple of run outs adding to their woes.

Rudell Pitcher and Reginald Pitcher added 22 for the sixth wicket but there was another domino effect after that stand was broken, with the last four wickets going for just 15 runs.

Youngster Rudell Pitcher was the high man for St. David's with 30, including from three fours and a six, while Dean Pitcher scored 18.

Kevin Fubler and Brian Gibbons each took three wickets to lead the Willow Cuts bowling, spinner Fubler returning figures of three for 20 from 14.3 overs with seven maidens and Gibbons taking three for 36 off 13 overs of seam.

Willow Cuts made the target look easy after Dwayne Basden and Jermaine Warner put on 36 for the first wicket. Warner was caught by Johnny Booth at mid-off for 22 but Basden carried his bat to the end for a disciplined 39, batting two hours and 17 minutes in all.

Dexter Basden added 78 with Dwayne Basden for the second wicket but fell for 53 just four runs short of victory when he skied a catch to young substitute Fuqre Crockwell at wide mid-on.