St John’s Field (Devonshire Rec won toss): Western Stars beat Devonshire Rec by two wickets

Last weekend it was the Seth Campbell show.

On Saturday, the young fast-medium bowler shared the glory with his father Wayne after they came together in an unbeaten ninth-wicket stand of 18 that sealed victory for Western Stars in the first of three matches in the Central Counties Cup.

Needing 217 for victory, Campbell Jr joined his father at 199 for eight and the two patiently scored the required runs to seal victory for the cup-holders with 4.4 overs remaining. Campbell Sr finished with 22 not out, including four fours. However the real hero for Stars was Temiko Wilson, their wicketkeeper, who scored 76, with eight fours and a six, after coming in at No?3. His departure to a catch behind brought the Campbells together at a critical stage of the match, with Rec smelling victory that would have taken them halfway towards their goal of reclaiming the counties title.

The visitors looked a completely different team to the one that was outplayed a week ago by the same opponents. They had Stars 61 for four with young seamer Durnell Smith removing opener Ryan Tyrell for 25, when he was caught at backward square by Steven Bremar, and then bowled Clay Darrell.

Wilson anchored the innings with his disciplined knock, adding 49 for the fifth wicket with Seion Darrell (27) as they brought up the 100. Wilson then added 51 with Kanaz Tuzo (17) to move the holders on to 161 for seven as the match hung in the balance. Veteran Dennis Williams claimed two wickets, including Wilson to make it 199 for eight before the Campbells kept their cool to carry Stars to their target.

Earlier Lamar Caines led the Rec batting with 53 while opener Dapo Frederick contributed 43 as the pair added 81 for the second wicket after Antoine Outerbridge departed in the fifth over with just two runs on the board. Stars started the match with four successive maidens as the Rec batsmen took a cautious approach after being dismissed for only 32 by Stars last weekend.

Seth Campbell, who claimed eight wickets in that league match, had only that single scalp this time when he trapped Outerbridge leg-before in his third over. His ten-over spell cost just 16 runs for the one wicket, before captain Nyon Steede, the seventh bowler used, led the way with three for 37 from six overs.

Rec had only 15 runs on the board after ten overs before they began to accelerate the scoring late in the innings as Freeman Lema and Demar Johnson, two 16-year-olds, made valuable contributions at seven and eight. Lema scored 29 and Johnson 27 not out, both hitting three fours and two sixes as Rec batted out the 50 overs. Johnson faced just eight balls.

Brian Hall had an economical spell with his spin, going for just 24 runs from ten overs, although he failed to take a wicket.

The second match of the series will be played on July 12 at Devonshire Rec.

In the First Division yesterday, Devonshire Rec were comfortable winners over Warwick at the end of a rain-shortened match, despite scoring only 119 for nine from their 25 overs.

Warwick managed just 74 in reply after Durnell Smith claimed four for 15 from five overs to lead the bowling damage as Warwick crashed from 51-2 to 74 all out.

The match started at 3pm with Rec in early trouble at 24-4 and then 48-5 before Hewvonnie Brown added some substance to the innings with a knock of 32 after the top five bats all failed to reach double figures. Four Warwick bowlers took two wickets apiece, with Lionel Cann having figures of two for seven from 4.3 overs while Banjamin gave up 19 runs in four overs for his two wickets. Dejuan Benjamin had two for 18 and Cameron Jeffers two for 33.

Warwick were well positioned at 51-2 but the loss of eight wickets for 23 runs left them well short of their target as Rec won with nine balls to spare. Supporting Smith in the bowling were Jody Maronie, Sean DeGraff and captain Lamont Brangman with two for 14, 17 and 10 respectively.

In the other match Western Stars continued their winning start to the season with a 97 run win over PHC at PHC Field. That match was reduced to 31 overs a side because of rain as Stars scored 199-5 from their overs with R Davis scoring 45 not out and Ryan Tyrell 35. Temiko Wilson, captain for the day, scored 27 as five PHC bowlers took one wicket, including Kyle Lightbourne who went for 14 runs in his seven overs.

In reply, PHC scored 102 in 27 overs, with Dean Richards the high man with 37.