St David’s seized pole position in the Junior Eastern Counties series after coming away with a four-wicket win against Cleveland County at Lord’s at the weekend.

In the 40 overs match, St David’s dismissed their opponents, who elected to bat first, for 55 in 20.1 overs with Sa-Qui Robinson (two for four), Isaac Todd (two for five) and Lennox Brangman (two for seven) picking up two wickets each.

All-rounder Zakai Minors then led their chase with an unbeaten 25 as St David’s replied with 58 for six in twelve overs.

Isaiah O’Brien, the St David’s captain, was happy to come away with the desired result.

“We came with our heads high and knew once we lost the toss it was going to be a little bit challenging obviously bowling first in the peak of the heat,” O’Brien told The Royal Gazette.

But we bowled well enough to restrict them to 55 and a lot of the youngsters were able to put on a show.

“We shifted our original batting plan once we realised what score we were chasing as we were trying to give the young players more chances to showcase their talent.

“Unfortunately some of them wasn’t right there but are looking forward to coming back stronger the next game.”

Captain Amari Davis was Cleveland’s only batter in double figures with 22 while Ja-Shay and Mcaiz Trott led the bowling with two for eight and two for one respectively.

The youth competition has been revised this year with St David’s and Cleveland paired together in a new under-18 age group that could potentially see the rivals play each other as many as four times. Bailey’s Bay and Flatts will compete against each other at under-13 level.

Bay and Flatts were unable to field teams last year, leaving St David’s and Cleveland to face off against each other in a three-match series, which St David’s won 2-1.