Sea Breeze Oval (Bailey’s Bay won toss): St David’s beat Bailey’s Bay by seven wickets

An unbroken century partnership between OJ Pitcher and wicketkeeper Ricardo Brangman carried St David’s to a comfortable win over Bailey’s Bay with plenty of wickets and overs in hand.

The match was shaping up to be an interesting one between the Eastern Counties rivals after St David’s, chasing 194 for victory, lost opener Ajuan Lamb to a catch in the covers by Stephen Outerbridge in Macquille Walker’s second over to be 64 for three in their run chase.

However, a stand of 135 for the fourth wicket between Pitcher and Brangman took St David’s to victory as they went on to claim their second straight win with 13 overs to spare.

Pitcher, who came in at No 4 with two wickets already down for six runs in just the fourth over following the early dismissal of opener Dean Simons and No 3 bat Aaron Paynter, led the fightback as he and opener Lamb put on 58 for the third wicket.

Lamb, a century-maker last weekend against Willow Cuts, was dropped in the sixth over by Kris Jackman off an easy chance at mid-off before he had reached double figures in what was a costly drop for the home side.

Lamb was soon out, however, for 38 off 49 balls as Bay got the breakthrough. However, they could not penetrate further as Pitcher found another willing partner in Brangman to help put St David’s back in control.

Pitcher led the way with 84 not out off 81 balls with 12 fours and a six, while Brangman scored 52 not out, securing the win and reaching his fifty with a six off Jackman over mid-wicket in the 37th over.

“It definitely felt good. I’ve been putting in a lot of work behind the scenes, going for runs and stuff,” said Pitcher.

“To get the result is definitely a good feeling, the most important thing is the team got the victory and we’re having a good start to the season.

“They had us in early troubles, with Ajuan once again starting to look good. But once he went, ‘Cardo’ [Ricardo Brangman] came in and showed a lot of maturity.

“We know Cardo to be an aggressive player but today he really batted for a long period, got himself in and did the right things and it worked out for us.”

Bay rotated their bowlers without much success, with opening pair Kyle Hodsoll and Jordan Burgess taking a wicket apiece along with Walker.

The experienced pair of Pitcher and Brangman kept the score ticking with some sensible batting as they punished the bad balls. They were well ahead of the run-rate, 93 for three after 20 overs, then 148 for three after 30.

At the water break at 35 overs, St David’s were 179 for three with just 16 runs needed. The next over, Pitcher hit three fours off Walker to take them to the brink of victory at 193. Brangman then hit the winning six next over from Jackman.

“We tried to break the game up, ten runs at a time, but as far as balls and overs, that was never an issue chasing 194,” Pitcher added.

“It was nice to see guys batting long as we’re now back playing 50 overs. It’s important for the development of the game and the youngsters. Hopefully it reflects in a positive way.”

Brangman faced 77 balls for his 52, hitting four fours and three sixes.

Earlier Bay’s innings were led by Stephen Outerbridge’s 38 in the middle order. Outerbridge, one of three changes to the Bay side which beat Southampton Rangers in their opening match last weekend, hit six fours off 41 balls after coming in at No 5 with three wickets already down for 25 runs in the seventh over.

Outerbridge and wicketkeeper Jarryd Richardson (26) added 36 for the fifth wicket when Outerbridge departed in the 22nd over. Richardson and Jackman, the two other changes to last week’s team, then carried the score from 85 to 125 when Richardson was sixth out, facing 50 balls in his patient knock of 26.

A late rally with the bat by Nos 9 and ten batsmen Kyle Hodsoll and Jordan Burgess enabled Bay to get close to the 200 mark as they carried the score from 130 for eight to 186 for nine, a stand of 56 that was the biggest of the innings.

Hodsoll finished with 29 not out while Burgess showed himself to be a capable late-order batsman by hitting three well-struck straight sixes in his knock of 26 which came off 22 balls.

Spinner Derrick Brangman led the St David’s bowling with three for 32 from ten overs. OJ Pitcher picked up the last two wickets to finish with two wickets for one run off two overs.

Opener George O’Brien and captain Justin Pitcher also claimed two wickets, O’Brien going for just 27 runs in his ten overs, while Pitcher had figures of two for 66 from his ten overs after coming on as first change.

Bailey’s Bay

S Tavares c Lamb b O’Brien 5

C Durham b Outerbridge 12

B Trott lbw b O’Brien 1

*T Fray b J Pitcher 7

S Outerbridge b Brangman 38

†J Richardson c Lamb b J Pitcher 26

K Jackman c O Pitcher b Brangman 16

M Walker lbw b Brangman 0

K Hodsoll not out 29

J Burgess c Lamb b O Pitcher 26

D Thomas b O Pitcher 0

Extras (lb 9, w 24, nb 1) 34

Total (42.2 overs) 194

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-21, 3-25, 4-49, 5-85, 6-125, 7-127, 8-130, 9-186.

Bowling: O’Brien 10-1-27-2; Outerbridge 8-1-42-1; J Pitcher 10-0-66-2; D Brangman 10-1-32-3; Paynter 1-0-9-0; O Pitcher 2-1-1-2; Simons 1-0-8-0.

St David’s

A Lamb c Outerbridge b Walker 38

D Simons c Fray b Hodsoll 0

A Paynter b Burgess 3

O Pitcher not out 84

†R Brangman not out 52

Extras (b 1, lb 3, w 18) 22

Total (3 wkts, 36.2 overs) 199

G O’Brien, *J Pitcher, D Brangman, R Foggo, C Outerbridge and S Robinson did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-6, 3-64.

Bowling: Hodsoll 6-0-26-1; Burgess 8-0-44-1; Jackman 7.2-0-48-0; Walker 6-0-37-1; Tavares 4-0-14-0; Durham 5-1-26-0.

Umpires: E Carrington and A Cumberbatch.