St. David's 252

St.George's 136

Shoddy fielding and a Chris Foggo century combined to give St. David's a convincing derby victory over St. George's even without national skipper Clay Smith.

Wilbur Burt dropped Foggo when the opener was on zero, the first and most significant of an afternoon of fielding errors, which included an overthrow boundary.

The national team hopeful went on to produce a patient 106 with flashes of flamboyance which provided the backbone of a 252 total that St. George's were always going to struggle to attain.

The enormity of the task was too much for the home team who took far too many risks far too early and although they stayed comfortably ahead of the run-rate, their wickets tumbled with alarming ease.

Little resistance was put up by the tail, and St. George's were skittled out for 136 to give Smith's men a 116-run victory and another opportunity to set their stall out as the team to beat this summer.

“Chris is in great form right now,” said skipper Smith.

“It is his second big knock and richly deserved for all the hard work he is putting in.

“I've tried to emphasise to Chris and all our batsmen the importance of putting together a big innings.

“There is no doubt players like Chris are capable of putting together scores like that, it is just a matter of being patient and building the innings.

“Chris is in a rich vein of form and that can only be good for St. David's Cricket Club.”

Under a cloudless sky at Wellington Oval, Foggo and Delyone Borden made the most of a benign wicket to set the perfect victory platform with an opening stand of 145.

With the help of some generous fielding - at least three dropped catches, two giant overthrows and a total of 33 extras by the end of the afternoon - Borden's slow prodding proved the perfect foil for Foggo's boundaries, with the former showing his maturity with a risk-free 51.

Even when he eventually gave up his precious wicket, stumped off Travis Smith's bowling, Foggo and then a succession of partners peppered the boundary as the score kept motoring along.

Foggo, who hit 74 last week, continued where he left off, reaching milestones with comfortable stroke making.

He also made sure he created some highlight reel moments, cracking a giant six for his 50 and, somewhat unsurprisingly, the opener's century then came from a mis-fielded four - both strokes greeted with applause and notes stuffed into his pocket by generous and enthusiastic supporters. His century came in 123 balls, including 13 fours and three sixes.

He finally succumbed to Herbie Bascome's bowling but the huge total was all but posted.

An innings of 23 from Del Hollis and an extravagant unbeaten 26 from Dean Minors ensured the early promise of the innings was fulfilled while Smith - resting his knee - watched proudly from the shaded bleachers at the pavilion end.

The reply began in sensational style with young Oronde Bascome - who had earlier shown his older team-mates how tight fielding and bowling were indeed possible - cracking three boundaries in the first over.

A total of 14 was amassed with 49 overs still left, but it wasn't long before the gung-ho approach to reaching the formidable total proved foolhardy.

Bascome junior went in the third over for 18 and team-mates followed him back into the pavilion in quick succession, mostly after picking the wrong ball to thump.

Herbie Bascome, normally the perfect player to rely on in pressure situations, could only manage three before he was pouched by Hollis off the bowling of Loren Marshall.

Troy Hall put up the strongest stand, making a slow 29 while a succession of partners disappeared, but the game was all but over early on with seven wickets down after 23 overs before Borden came in and removed the final three wickets in nine balls to complete a satisfying day for the youngster.