Devonshire Recreation Club (Tuff Dogs won toss): Western Stars beat Tuff Dogs by eight wickets

Central Counties Cup holders Western Stars experienced an early blip before ultimately making short work of Tuff Dogs yesterday.

Set to chase a significantly under-par target of 154 at the tight confines of Devonshire Recreation Club, Stars quickly found themselves two for two at the end of the first over.

First Swayne Campbell was trapped in front by guest player Justin Pitcher’s third ball and then Gavin Manders was run out on the sixth — neither batsman troubling the scorers.

If the Evening League side felt they were in with a shout of replicating county upsets of the recent past, they were rather dismissively disabused of that notion by man of the match Treadwell Gibbons Jr and Bermuda batsman Tre Manders, who smashed 155 runs off the next 21 overs.

Gibbons, who had earlier claimed four for 22 with his military medium, finished 73 not out from 64 balls with six fours and four sixes, while Manders was unbeaten on 70 from 64 balls with five fours and four sixes.

Knowing the game was up, Tuff Dogs were reduced to declaration bowling at the end, with a solitary over from Kwame Tucker, the former Southampton Rangers and Bermuda wicketkeeper, costing 19 and one from Jayden Albertze going for 18.

Meanwhile, Pitcher bowled only the four overs for 25 with the one wicket and Arnold Manders, Tuff Dogs’ most successful bowler in the 16-overs-a-side Evening League, “overexerted” himself for a fifth but could get no joy in going wicketless for 24 runs.

Just as they began well with the ball, so too did Tuff Dogs with the bat after winning the toss and taking the sensible course of action with a squad chock-full of veterans.

McLaren Lowe and Albertze had scored at better than run-a-ball in putting on 68 in the first powerplay. But three balls into the eleventh over, the innings began a fateful and inexorable decline when Gibbons bowled Albertze for 30 after he had hit four fours and a six from 36 balls.

Six balls later, Tuff Dogs were 74 for three as Gibbons completed his over by dismissing Trevor Corday leg-before for a duck and Swayne Campbell took a return catch to send back Tucker, also without scoring.

When Lowe’s resistance was ended for a team-high 44 from 43 balls (three fours, four sixes) in the sixteenth over, Tuff Dogs were 100 for four and well on the way to capitulation.

Swayne Campbell was expensive but finished with two for 38 from four overs, while Brian Hall claimed two for 45 from seven, including Arnold Manders for a nine-ball duck.

Seth Campbell, with one for 35 from nine overs, took the other wicket to go to the bowlers.

Stars will face Devonshire Rec next Saturday, when the challenge is expected to be a good deal sterner.

SCORECARD

Tuff Dogs

M Lowe c Furbert b Swayne Campbell 44

J Albertze b Gibbons 30

Trevor Corday lbw b Gibbons 0

K Tucker c and b Swayne Campbell 0

†D Wade lbw b Gibbons 18

J Pitcher b Hall 22

*Terence Corday run out 0

A Manders c Furbert b Hall 0

J Barritt lbw b Seth Campbell 1

M Fullerton c T Manders b Gibbons 3

J Corday not out 7

Extras (lb 1, nb 3, w 24) 28

Total (26.5 overs) 153

Fall of wickets: 1-68, 2-73, 3-74, 4-100, 5-114, 6-121, 7-136, 8-140, 9-144.

Bowling: Seth Campbell 9-0-35-1; Hall 7-0-45-2; Swayne Campbell 4-0-38-2; Gibbons 5.5-0-22-4; Richardson 1-0-12-0.

Western Stars

Swayne Campbell lbw b Pitcher 0

G Manders run out 0

T Manders not out 70

T Gibbons not out 73

Extras (nb 1, w 13) 14

Total (2 wkts; 22 overs) 157

B Hall, Seth Campbell, *†K Furbert, D McGlashin, J Edness, A Richardson and D Wellman did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-2.

Bowling: Pitcher 4-0-25-1; Terence Corday 4-0-33-0; J Corday 6-0-31-0; Manders 5-0-24-0; Albertze 1-0-18-0; Fullerton 1-0-7-0; Tucker 1-0-19-0.

Umpires: A Knight and E Carrington.