Cleveland County 204 Southampton Rangers 205-6

Southampton Rangers kept in the Premier Division race with this four wicket victory over Cleveland at Southampton Oval.

The home side were forced to dig in and aim for a respectable winning target after Aaron Adams struck 44 to lead Cleveland just above the double century mark. Also among the runs were opener Wilton Woolridge with 35, skipper Carlton Smith 30, Jeff Richardson 23 and Ed Rahman 18 not out.

Adams and Smith put on 40 for the fifth wicket, taking the score from four for 89 to 129 for five.

As was the case in Saturday's Western Counties Cup, Southampton's bowlers struggled to take any real initiative and it was left for spinners Olin Jones and David Saltus to spearhead the attack.

Jones had the sharper figures of two for 28 off ten overs, with two maidens while Saltus claimed two wickets but at a cost of 50 runs off ten overs with a maiden.

Jones was also his team's top bat stroking an undefeated 41 while opener Keith Wainwright scored 39, Ricky Brangman 28, Rohaan Simons 20 not out and Clevie Wade 18.

Spinner Courtney Trott took two for 25 off seven overs to lead the Cleveland bowlers while Peter Phillpot had two for 31 off ten overs.

Somerset 127

St. George's 125

This game at Wellington Oval ended with St. George's upset with Somerset allrounder Wendell White who they felt ended the game the sneakiest, albeit legal, way possible.

St. George's had their last two batsmen at the wicket and were within two runs of Somerset's total when White, while running in to bowl, caught tailender Kameron Fox advancing out of his crease and ran him out for the last dismissal, giving Somerset a two-run victory.

Earlier, St. George's bowled well to restrict the westenders to a modest total with Herbie Bascome leading the attack by taking three for 25 off ten overs with four maidens. Fox had two for three off just 2.1 overs while Gary Brangman took two for 20 off six overs and Travis Smith two for 41 off ten overs. He also had two maidens.

White's knock of 27 was the highest for Somerset, while Dwayne Basden followed on 21 and opener Sheridan Ming 16.

Skipper Charlie Marshall led St. George's in response with 37 while Lewis Foggo scored 13 and Ankoma Cannonier 12.

Shane Hollis took four for 36 off ten overs with two maidens, while Tony Cheeseman claimed two for 13 off five overs and White two for 26 off seven overs.

Flatts 229-9

Bailey's Bay 230-5

Catches win matches and that's the reason Flatts lost their bottom-of-the-table League match against Bailey's Bay yesterday at Sea Breeze Oval.

Walking off the field at dusk, after Bailey's Bay's Dennis Pilgrim drove Derek Wright square for the two winnings runs, Flatts' players would have been ruing their acute case of butter fingers. They dropped Corey Hill at least three times, thereby allowing him to provide a solid foundation on which his team launched a successful reply to Flatts' 229 for nine in 48 overs (overs reduced because of a late start).

Despite the best efforts of Flatts' bowlers Philip Burgess and James Celestine (two for 42 off ten overs and one for 35 off ten respectively), Bailey's Bay cruised to 230 for five off 40.1 overs. They were allotted 46 overs in which to reach the target because of a slow over rate but timed their innings to perfection to exact revenge on Flatts who beat them earlier this season.

Hill, riding his luck to the maximum, smashed nine fours and seven sixes, in his whirlwind knock. Coming in at No. 4 - with the score on eight for one and with opener Ricky Hill retiring sick - he shared a sizeable second-wicket stand of 116 with Stephen Outerbridge (32) before, finally, another offering from his bat stuck in the hands of Che Woolridge.

"I was trying to get myself in form for Saturday. Obviously, we will have to hit the ball around if we want to win the Eastern Counties' final (against St. David's) and I was using this as a build-up.

"I wanted to get a feel for what I will need to do on Saturday and I was also trying to take the pressure off the guys in the pavilion because we were chasing a good total," said Hill.

Earlier, Troy Bean led the fight for Flatts with an unbeaten 78, including five fours and three sixes. He was well supported by Celestine whose 41 had four fours and an equal number of sixes. Captain Rahji Edness was run out for 30 (two fours, three sixes).

Jermaine Outerbridge was the pick of the bowlers for Bailey's Bay, with three for 39 from seven overs while Pilgrim and Burton Outerbridge took two wickets apiece and Stephen Outerbridge, one.