Sea Breeze Oval (Bailey’s Bay won toss): Southampton beat Bailey’s Bay by 24 runs

A seismic batting collapse condemned Bailey’s Bay to a 24-run defeat at the hands of visiting Southampton Rangers in a rain hit match at Sea Breeze Oval yesterday.

Set a revised target of 116 in 28 overs at just over four runs per over, Bay appeared to be on course for victory at 74 for three.

But then the wheels fell off the wagon as the host side completely lost the plot, losing their remaining seven wickets for a measly 18 runs to hand Rangers victory.

Derrick Brangman, the left arm spinner, was the catalyst for Bay’s demise as he bagged phenomenal figures of six for ten from 5.4 overs.

Sharing new ball duties with Kevin Tucker, Brangman claimed two wickets during his opening four over burst from the northern end of the ground that saw the bowler only concede seven runs.

He made the breakthrough in the ninth over of Bay’s reply when he had opener Christino Smith held at mid-wicket after the batsman got a leading edge and then bowled Lateef Trott around his legs.

With the pendulum swinging firmly Rangers’ way, Brangman returned to the bowling attack at the start of the 26th over for a second spell and mopped up the tail with consummate ease, claiming four wickets in ten deliveries, to hammer the final nail in Bay’s coffin.

Brangman had Rodney Trott caught at long on, Sinclair Smith caught at backward point, Burton Outerbridge caught in the covers and last man Coolidge Durham caught at long on to cap an outstanding spell of slow bowling.

First change Dion Stovell, the Rangers captain, kept the pressure on the batsmen in the middle overs on the way to impressive figures of two for 19 off five overs with his off break spin. The turning point of Bay’s innings was the contentious dismissal of Stephen Outerbridge, the Bay captain.

Outerbridge was in fine nick and as long as he hung around the crease his team’s chances of victory looked good.

But an innings that promised much was cut short after Outerbridge was judged to have been short of the crease attempting a tight single after Kwame Tucker, the Rangers wicketkeeper, broke the stumps. Outerbridge’s body language after receiving the dreaded finger from the square leg umpire pretty much summed up the feelings among the home crowd as Rangers celebrated the prized wicket that virtually signalled the end of Bay’s resistance.

Outerbridge struck two fours and a six in his knock of 30 from 36 balls.

Opening bat Smith stroked 20 from 30 balls at the top of the order while middle order bat Rodney Trott nudged 16 from 42 balls. Earlier, Rangers were 133 for three when rain halted their innings in the 33rd over around 1.30pm with Stovell and Janeiro Tucker unbeaten at the crease.

Rangers got off to a wobbly start after being sent into bat by their hosts as openers Maurice Lowe and Brangman were dismissed cheaply to reduce the visitors to 15 for two.

A 76-run third wicket stand between Stovell and Alec Dore steadied the ship and carried the score along to 91 before Dore was stumped charging Rodney Trott, the Bay off spinner. Stovell and Janeiro Tucker added a further 42 runs during an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership before the heavens opened up and brought the innings to a premature halt.

Stovell struck 55 from 79 balls that included four fours and a six. Tucker helped himself to three fours and a six in his innings of 23 that arrived off 31 balls.

Kyle Hodsoll, Lateef Trott and Rodney Trott all accounted for the Rangers wickets to fall.