Somerset Cricket Club (Somerset won toss): Somerset beat Bailey’s Bay by six wickets

Amari Ebbin played some elegant cover drives and quality late cuts to score an unbeaten 75 runs and lead Somerset Cricket Club to a comfortable victory over Bailey’s Bay on Sunday.

Ebbin carried his bat as Somerset successfully chased the 160 runs put up by the East Enders to give stand-in captain Antonio Darrell, who was deputising for Bermuda International Dominic Sabir, his first victory in charge.

“It felt good today,” Darrell said. “Our preparation was good leading up to this game and I had a lot of confidence in the team’s ability. We bowled well and Amari batted well to go all the way until the end. I wish to thank the team for giving me their support as captain and we got the job done to secure the victory.”

Ebbin would feature in four significant partnerships to lead his team to victory. First he and Jerez Eve gave Somerset a good start with a 29-run partnership before the latter was run out going for a cheeky single.

Edward Albuoy then joined Ebbin and the two took the score to 52 with a 23 run, second-wicket partnership highlighted by Albuoy’s straight drive for a maximum which landed near the scoreboard before he was bowled by Kyle Hodsoll going for another big hit on 17.

Darrell then joined Ebbin and the two would carry the score to 91 with a 39 run, third-wicket partnership before the captain was trapped lbw by Rodney Trott, bringing Cofield Robinson in to join the youngster.

The pair batted sensibly with Ebbin stepping down the crease to edge one that eluded wicketkeeper Azende Furbert for an easy stumping and rolled to the boundary instead to bring up his 50 with Somerset comfortably in the driver’s seat at 100 for four with 30 overs remaining.

The pair would both finish unbeaten with an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership worth 85 runs, Ebbin scoring nine fours in his innings with Robinson finishing unbeaten on 36, which included four fours. Stand-in Bay captain Kyle Hodsoll was the pick of the Bay bowlers with two wickets for 34 runs.

Darrell’s decision to send Bay into bat proved a good one. With Bay still missing captain Terryn Fray, all-rounder Delray Rawlins and wicketkeeper Jarryd Richardson on international duty, the east-Enders opened with the in-form Coolidge Durham and Zakao Hart but both would be back in the pavilion in less than two overs without troubling the score.

Furbert and Brandon Trott steadied the innings with a 56 run, third-wicket partnership to carry the score to 60 before the latter was caught and bowled by “Mr Cup Match” Janeiro Tucker for 21. Furbert hit a return catch to Darrell without adding to the score, leaving Bay in a spot of bother at 60 for four after 16.1 overs.

Club President and former Cup Match player Stephen Outerbridge and Trott then built the Bay innings with some patient batting.

They got the score to 105 for five at the halfway stage of their allotted 50 overs with the two putting on 33 runs for the sixth wicket before Trott mistimed his shot and was bowled by Tayo Smith for 16 with the score at 119 for six. Outerbridge fell shortly after when caught on the boundary by Tucker for a team-high 25.

Hodsoll contributed a useful 20 before Tucker enticed him with a slow one which he lofted to Darrell at mid-wicket. Jordan Burgess would follow three runs later for 13 in similar fashion to Hodsoll for another easy catch to Darrell.

Another veteran Irving Romaine padded up but was last man out without making an impact to the score as Bay were all out for 160 in 40.2 overs. Tucker was the pick of the Somerset bowlers with three wickets for 13 runs ably assisted by Smith with three wickets for 24 and Darrell with two wickets for 39 runs.