Risky running between the wickets proved costly for Southampton Rangers as they lost by the slimmest of margins at home to league leaders Western Stars yesterday.

Standing at 105 and with only two runs needed for victory, tailender Gary Williams embarked on an impossible second run with fellow batsmen Lyndon Raynor after stroking a single and was unable to make it before Star's wicketkeeper Anthony Manders received a throw from the outfield and removed the bails.

Batting on the part of both teams was poor, contributing to the low scoring.

Dwayne Steede was the main beneficiary of this ineptness as he claimed six wickets from 13 overs of pedestrian medium-pace bowling. He and teammate Hassan Durham, with a patient knock of 37, proved the stars of this comedy of errors.

Durham, dropped on more than one occasion, was Star's -- and the game's -- high scorer with only Arnold Manders and skipper Gary Brangman able to follow his lead into double figures. First change bowler Clevie Wade snatched four for 23, while the pace pair of Quinton Burch and Gary Williams took three and two wickets respectively.

Not nearly as successful with the bat as they were with the ball, Rangers owed 25 of their total to extras, with only skipper Ricky Brangman offering more than token resistance. Assisting Steede was Arnold Manders, whose tidy off-breaks accounted for three wickets.

Flatts 188 St. David's 197-6 On the wicket where they had proudly carried their club's banner a day earlier in the Eastern Counties Cup, Flatts yesterday showed up with only nine players and lost by four wickets to St. David's.

The low turnout only showed how selfish the no-shows were after apparently finding this game less attractive than Saturday's prestigious encounter.

Despite the shortage Flatts reached a respectable total with skipper Rodney Woolridge leading the way with 51, including seven fours. Opener James Bean followed with 37 while Derrick Wright hit 36 not out and Troy Dean 35.

Flatts recovered from an early setback after losing two for 11, thanks to a second-wicket stand of 81 between Woolridge and Bean.

Lionel Cann led St. David's in their chase for victory with a brisk 47 that included four fours. Opener Eddie Lambe was next highest scorer with 42.

Kevin Hurdle was the top bowler for Flatts with three for 34.

Willow Cuts 179-8 Warwick 71 Warwick's season of woe continued at Somerset Cricket Club, as second-placed Willow Cuts first pummelled their bowling and then plundered a clueless batting line-up in winning by 108 runs to keep pressure on league leaders Western Stars.

Richard and Dexter Basden did the damage with the bat, while Rodney and Kevin Fubler, together with chief destroyer Joseph Matthews, took centre stage with the ball when Cuts took to the field.

Richard weighed in with a dashing 54 and Dexter (30) knocked the `stuffing' out of Warwick's attack. The former lashed five fours and three sixes and the latter one four and three sixes. The pair engaged in a third wicket partnership worth 41 runs that laid a solid foundation.

Daniel Morgan was the most successful of Warwick bowlers with three for 28.

There were no shining lights for Warwick as Matthews' five overs of medium-pace reaped four wickets as their dividend. The Fubler brothers took three apiece.

Nationals 327-4 Bailey's Bay 81-2 Nationals captain Mark Ray delayed his declaration until 5.59, by which time eight-man Bailey's Bay looked certain to leave Nationals with a share of the points.

Ray had a good opportunity to press home the advantage against short-handed Bay but chose to reach his century -- 122 not out off 197 balls in 266 minutes -- before declaring. In less than an hour Bailey's Bay had replied with 81-2 when umpire Randy Butler called the game off after both captains agreed a result couldn't be achieved.

Ray opened the Nationals batting and put on 53 for the first wicket with Winston Simmons. After Simmons was bowled by Anthony Braithwaite and Terry Thomas bowled by Ricky Hodsoll, Ray shared in third and fourth wicket stands of 63 with his brother John who scored 25 and 136 with Lloyd Fray for the fourth wicket.

Fray, playing his first match since the limited overs match with Bailey's Bay on April 26, scored 76 off 103 balls before being fourth out when the score was 260. His captain then added a further 67 for the unbroken fifth wicket with Albert Jenkins who scored 21 not out. Ray hit 20 fours in his ton.

Clarkie Trott was the best Bay bowler with two for 62 from 19 overs. Eugene Raynor, brought out of retirement to help Bay, was the most economical bowler for his team, giving up just 17 runs in his seven overs.

Bay lost both their wickets on 44 as Cal Dill was bowled by John Ray for 11 and Anthony Braithwaite, his opening partner, caught off Fray's bowling for 23.

Glenn Smith and Jermaine Outerbridge batted to the end with Smith hitting two sixes and a four in his brisk 20 not out while Outerbridge was nine not out.

Bay batted for just 11 overs.

St. George's 217-7 Ham. Parish 93 Wicketkeeper Dean Minors and opening batsman Troy Hall both hit half-centuries while Eugene Foggo claimed four for 13 from 6.5 overs to lead St. George's to an easy 124 run win over Hamilton Parish at Wellington Oval.

Hall shared in an opening stand of 87 with Ryan Steede as he hit nine fours and a six in his 55 while Steede contributed 20 before 12-year old Clevon Hill came on as the fifth bowler and broke the stand by trapping Steede lbw.

Hall departed six runs later but Parish were then left to contend with Minors who hit seven fours and four sixes in his top knock of 75 before Ricky Hill took a good, low catch off his own bowling to deny Minors his first century of the season.

Wendell Smith was the other main contributor with 21. He was dismissed by Corey Hill on the last ball before tea and decided then to declare. Ricky Hill led the Parish bowling with three for 58, while Corey took two for 36.

In short time St. George's had Parish on the rack with Ricky Hill and Irving Burgess dismissed with just four runs on the board. Hill was bowled by Kenny Phillips and Burgess bowled by Greg Foggo.

Dennis Trott and Quinn Outerbridge kept St. George's at bay for a while with a third wicket stand of 44. Outerbridge topped the batting with 30, but could do nothing to help his team as they slumped from 70-3 to 93 all out.

Phillips finished with two for 44 while David Adams took two for 15.

Som. Bridge 163 Cleveland 164-6 Del Hollis and Peter Philpott shared the wickets and opener Grant Smith paved the way in the batting with 51 as Cleveland beat Somerset Bridge by four wickets at Sea Breeze Oval.

Hollis took three for 56 from 18 overs and Philpott four for 26 from seven as Bridge were restricted to 163 in 50.1 overs with stand-in captain Gladwin Ingham scoring 36 to lead the visitors' batting. Brian Gibbons hit 32, Tony Cheeseman 23 and Alfred Carter 22.

Grant Smith lost his opening partner Curtis Jackson for 12 after they had put on 32 but he found another willing partner in Wayne Smith as they added 69 for the second wicket to bring up the 100 before Smith fell for 51 in becoming the first of Sidney Simmons' five victims.

Wayne Smith went on to make 36 with Del Hollis scoring 29 as Simmons returned figures of five for 36 from 8.5 overs.

Somerset CC 142 Social Club 85 Somerset CC defeated Social Club by 57 runs at St. John's field, clinching maximum points when they captured the final wicket with only three overs remaining in the game. No other details of the game could be obtained last night.

RICKY BRANGMAN -- Losing cause.