Southampton 204-9 Western Stars all but wrapped up the first Premier League crown of the millennium, dispatching reigning champions Southampton by 17 runs at St.

John's Field yesterday.

The rest of the way to the official championship appears but a slow canter, with Social Club, Flatts, PHC and Willow Cuts left on the calendar of `to be beatens'.

In what was a do-or-die contest, Stars did just enough, taking advantage of what normally ranks a good bowling attack to set a tough target of 210 from 35 overs as rain reduced matters.

Jermaine Postlethwaite top scored for Stars with a disciplined 53 that included four fours and two sixes. He and skipper Albert Steede (45) took the total from 43 for one to 135 before Steede fell to Olin Jones.

Stars went on to post a solid target as Ricky Brangman and Gary Brangman both produced useful knocks of 30 and 37.

Clevie Wade emerged as Southampton's top bowler with three for 55, while Sidney Simmons, Ryan Belboda and Olin Jones each snatched one wicket.

In their chase, Southampton lost wickets regularly early on and this doomed their cause as the run rate steadily grew.

Janeiro Tucker topscored for the losers with 39, while Ian Armstrong and Clevie Wade made 32 and 31 respectively.

Cleon Scotland warmed up for his Cup Match debut with three for 28 as Stars top bowler, while Gary Brangman, Arnold Manders and Hassan Durham took two wickets each.

Warwick 326 Social Club 99 Warwick picked up their first win of the season in grand fashion, beating fellow cellar dwellers Social Club by 227 runs at Southampton Oval.

Social Club paid dearly for arriving a player short, as Warwick piled on the misery, taking advantage of the increased gaps in the field.

After getting off to a reasonable start the middle order fell apart. However, Steven (Lip) Bremar and Quinton Jones were able to prevent a total collapse.

Bremar smashed his highest ever recorded score of 80, while Jones likewise took advantage of one of the worst bowling attacks in the country.

J.Durham took four for 59 to lead the visitors, but got little assistance from his partners.

Leonard Gilkes and P.Furbert topscored for Social, each with 13 runs, as J.Williams mowed through them with five wickets each.

Cleveland 204 Devonshire 104 Cleveland strolled to a 100-run victory over a weary looking Devonshire at Wellington Oval.

Cleveland batted first and tallied 204 largely due to the batting exploits of Carlton Smith (37) and Curtis Jackson (28).

Rudell Smith was Devonshire's best bowler with three for 26, while Monroe Darrell and Omar Amory bagged two each.

Devonshire enjoyed little fortune with the bat, falling well short as Darran Davis and Ricardo Brangman were the only notables on 26 and 24 respectively.

Peter Philpott grabbed three for 20 and Johnny Richardson three for 25.

St. George's 255 Flatts 160 Graham Fox warmed up for Cup Match with a patient knock of 51 including four fours and two sixes as St. George's comfortably beat Flatts by 95 runs at Devonshire Rec.

At first it was feared that something in the region of 200 would not be enough for St. George's on the small field, but Flatts never made a serious bid for victory after losing their first three wickets with only 29 runs on the board.

In the end only Hewvonnie Brown's 52 made an impression as he and number nine bat Vernon Eve (25) put on 58 for the eighth wicket which prolonged the game.

Ryan Steede, another player recalled for Cup Match, claimed three for 34 off eight overs of seam while Herbie Bascome claimed two for 18 from seven overs and Mackie Crane two for 24.

After Dexter Smith's departure for seven, Eugene Foggo and Sinclair Gibbons put on 65 for the second wicket for St. George's. Foggo scored 33 and Gibbons 34 but the departure of Gibbons signalled a collapse as the east enders slumped from 91-2 to 125-5.

Fox led the fightback with an unbeaten half century which included four fours and two sixes as he and Travis Smith (37) added 60 for the eighth wicket.

For Flatts, Phillip Burgess had two for 33, Troy Bean two for 45 and Vernon Eve two for 46.

Somerset Bridge 145 PHC 147-8 PHC had a scare before beating their Western Counties rivals by two wickets at Sea Breeze Oval.

Chasing a modest 146 for victory, PHC were 103-7 when Cal Waldron and Charles Symons came together in an eighth wicket stand which produced 40 vital runs.

Waldron departed just three runs short of victory for 15 but Symons saw the team safely home with an unbeaten 24. James Pace was high man for PHC with 30 while opener Antoine Greene, who added 52 for the first wicket with Delbert Hunt, scored 24. There were also some 36 extras, including more than 20 in the opening stand.

Perry Saunders and Corvett Lambert each took three wickets for Bridge, Lambert giving up 38 in eight overs and Saunders 33 in seven.

Earlier, Denzel Dill scored 37 to lead the Bridge batting as Waldron finished with four for 32 off his 10 overs after sharing the new ball with Shoron Hunt.