St. George’s 110, 107

Southampton Rangers 121, 101-6

In just a day and a mere two hours of play the two-day featured game of the weekend saw champions Southampton Rangers score a four-wicket victory over visiting St. George’s at Southampton Oval in a Premier Division contest that left the home team skipper revelling in their early success.

In fact Kwame Tucker, having been given the full-time skipper’s role at the start of the season for the first time in his career, was left wondering whether his team had achieved a record by dismissing their opponents twice in the same day.

Whether it was a historic-making feat remains to be seen, but Tucker was nevertheless ecstatic that they had the fortune of pulling off this achievement while also getting their season off the mark with maximum points.

However, when asked if there were any ulterior motives on the part of his players to get the game over by 1 p.m. so that they could participate in Mother’s Day activities, he responded with a mere giggle.

“There were a lot of positives coming from the game. I was very surprised to see us bowling St. George’s out twice in one day, surely it must be a record for doing this. I give my team a lot of credit,” said Tucker.

“I realise it was an early game but those things happen. Yes, I would have liked to see us batting longer but this will come down the road. We are rebuilding and have to build on this performance, give the youngsters time to find their touch and progress as the season goes along.”

For a contest built as the game of the weekend few would have expected it to be such a low-scoring affair — with just the Rangers’ player-coach Janeiro Tucker reaching a half-century in the first inning. Nobody else from either team managed to go beyond 27.

But the Rangers’ skipper wasn’t too concerned about the lack of runs, hinting that this was no time to be critical since it was the opening game for both teams.

“Let’s face it, the guys were playing for the first time and everybody was anxious and probably over-cautious when attempting to play their strokes — but they will all find their way. Despite the lack of runs I truly feel this was a good game.”

St. George’s’ fragile batting was exposed early as they struggled to recover from 59 for five, with their eventual demise coming just after passing the century mark — dismissed with 110 off 29.2 overs.

Opener and new-man Rodney Trott topped scored with 15 while Ankoma (Toast) Cannonier, batting at number seven, also chipped in with 15.

The opening bowling duo of veteran Ryan Belboda and Traddie Simpson led the Rangers bowling attack with three wickets apiece, the former giving up 24 runs off seven overs and the latter yielding 27 off nine. Young World Cup star Malachi Jones claimed two for 25 off 7.2 overs.

Rangers’ encountered batting woes early as well, facing a near crisis when their first three wickets fell for just five runs.

But they were hit out of trouble by skipper Tucker (21) and later Janeiro Tucker (57). However, there still wasn’t any significant partnerships and consequently the St. George’s bowlers continued to dominate and had to be pleased to see the home side’s innings end with just an 11-run lead.

But any joy they may have felt was short-lived because their batting a second time still proved brittle — this time dismissed for three runs less then their first innings, reaching 107 off 33.4 overs.

Janeiro Tucker did the bowling damage, snatching three for 22 off nine overs with two maidens while Simpson claimed three for 38 off 7.4 overs and Belboda two for 18 off 10.

Openers Jason Anderson and Rodney Trott each scored 20 to lead the East Enders’ batting, their partnership of 39 giving them hope of reaching a more reasonable total the second time around, though this proved not to be.

Of the remaining batsmen just two reached double figures, with Troy Hall not out on 13 and Bascome chipping in with 12.

But facing a victory target of only 96 when play started yesterday morning, the home side again struggled.

Rangers had their backs against the wall when their first three bats were out for a mere 12 runs — Curtis Jackson scoring five, Andrew Raynor two and Randy Bean 0 — before stability came in a the shape of a stand of 33 between Jones (27) and skipper Tucker (22) to defy an inspired bowling attack.

Although the skipper and Rohaan Simons (20) were back in the pavilion when victory was reached, Janeiro Tucker and Quinton Sherlock jr remained unbeaten on 20 and one respectively to steer Rangers to a hard-fought victory off 26.4 overs.

Veteran Herbie Bascome ruffled Rangers’ batting with a five-wicket haul which cost 51 runs off 13.4 overs with two maidens.