Cleveland 204

Southampton 205-6

Southampton Rangers will maintain their lead over title-holders Western Stars heading into the final round of Premier League matches.

Rangers encountered a bit of a fight but eventually prevailed over Cleveland by four wickets in yesterday's penultimate round at Southampton Oval.

Opting to bat first, Cleveland limped to 204 all out in 42.4 overs with number 11 batsman Del Hollis being the mainstay of the innings after many of those higher up the order failed to produce.

Hollis belted 39 from 22 balls, including five sixes, to see the total to some respectability after Cleveland were reeling on 57 for five and later 135 for eight. Another valuable lower-order contributor was Jeff Tyrell who scored 30, coming in at number eight.

The talismanic Janeiro Tucker proved he can be as lethal with the ball as with the bat, taking four for 24 from ten overs while Gary Williams bagged three for 44 from his ten overs.

Despite losing six wickets en route to 205 in 46.4 overs, Rangers were always well within sight of victory.

Opener Keith Wainwright led the assault with 58, including six fours and one six, while Ricky Brangman and Tucker pitched in with 30 and 40 respectively. Had Tucker - who hit five fours and two sixes - not been dropped on 15, Cleveland might have had a chance to apply more pressure on their hosts.

However, that was not to be and it was left to Clevie Wade (16 not out) and Olin Jones (12 not out) to see Rangers home.

Cleveland skipper Carlton Smith took two wickets for 33 from 6.4 overs while Peter Philpott, Charles Richardson, Tyrell and Hollis got one each.

Somerset 102

Western Stars 103-4

Western Stars continued their impressive league form at St. John's Field yesterday, annihilating Somerset by six wickets and collecting maximum points for the second week running.

Having won the toss, Somerset elected to bat first on a wicket which, completely devoid of grass, looked likely to deteriorate as the match progressed. Any advantage that they might have gained, however, was quickly obliterated by a destructive opening burst by young fast bowler Kevin Hurdle. Obtaining a significant amount of bounce from just short of length, Hurdle was at his hostile best throughout his ten over spell, claiming figures of four for 32 and inflicting irreparable damage to the Somerset innings.

Having blown away the PHC top order at White Hill Field last week as well, Hurdle now seems to be fulfilling the enormous potential that many observers at Western Stars feel he has always possessed and he's swiftly gaining a reputation as one of the quickest and most penetrative seam bowlers on the Island.

Only Somerset's Wendell White put up any sort of resistance yesterday, with a patient 32.

Chasing a paltry 102 to win, Stars found themselves in a spot of bother early on at 51 for four, as the wicket began to break up and the bounce became unpredictable. Somerset's David Gibbons used the favourable conditions well by knocking over Stars' top three with the new ball.

But an unbroken partnership between Germaine Gibbons (26 not out) and Saleem Mukuddem (40 not out), the latter fresh from a record-breaking Cup Match debut, saw Stars to victory in only 20 overs.

Stars now face St. George's in the last league match of the season, though they have to rely on Southampton Rangers slipping up in their final game against Willow Cuts if they are to have any chance of retaining the title.

St. George's 228

PHC 177

St. George's avenged their earlier loss to PHC at Wellington Oval, but not before the visitors frustrated them late in the afternoon.

On the same wicket that the east enders struggled to take wickets over Cup Match, captain Charlie Marshall did not hesitate to send PHC in to bat after winning the toss. Even with a reshuffled batting order - Herbie Bascome and Wilbur Burt opened the innings while Marshall relegated himself to number 11 - St. George's posted their highest score of the season, thanks to Sinclair Gibbons' 118.

However, victory was hard to come by as, after taking the first six PHC wickets for just 41 runs in 48 minutes, the home team took their foot off the throttle and were made to toil for more than two hours in claiming the last four wickets.

Last pair Neil Anglin (30) and teenager Merkell Waldron (19 not out) added an even 50 for the last wicket to put some respectability into their reply which was led by player-coach Andre Manders' 35. including five boundaries. Gordon Anglin chipped in with 20 and Shoron Hunt 18 as the tail wagged defiantly.

Troy Hall, sharing the new ball with Bascome, claimed four for 49 off 10 overs in his first bowling spell of the season while Bascome had three for 34. In total eight bowlers were used in trying to clinch the victory, with the last bowler, Travis Smith, finally removing Anglin.

Earlier Gibbons' first century of the season came in 145 minutes and included 14 fours and five sixes. Mark Ray was next high bat with 38 while Troy Hall scored 22. Marshall, whose 134 was the highest score in Cup Match, was trapped lbw first ball by Shoron Hunt.

Arthur Richards led the PHC bowling with three for 12 as St. George's slumped from 210-5 to 228 all out. Hunt had three for 49 and Andre Manders two for 57.

St. David's 216

Willow Cuts 187

St. David's defeated Willow Cuts by 29 runs at Somerset yesterday.

Cuts won the toss and put St. David's into bat. They were put on the back foot, however, by St. David's captain O J Pitcher, who finished with 109 and shared in a 101-run second wicket partnership with Fiqre Crockwell.

In reply, Cuts never looked like threatening St. Davids' total of 216 and were dismissed for 187 in 34.2 overs.

Though they ultimately prevailed, the St. David's bowlers had a somewhat mixed day, conceding an extraordinary 52 extras in the field, including 24 wides.