A stunning century from Chris Douglas proved in vain, as Willow Cuts’ Logic Premier Division title aspirations suffered a significant dent at the Sea Breeze Oval yesterday.

High-flying Cuts were easily second-best to a Bailey’s Bay side who paced their batting to perfection to rack up an impressive 276 before blowing away the visiting middle order and tail.

Even as Douglas hammered 111 from 108 balls, Cuts always appeared up against it, with the required run-rate consistently higher than six an over throughout their chase.

The century-maker’s dismissal, caught on the boundary by Terryn Fray off Burton Outerbridge, sparked a dramatic collapse, as the final seven wickets fell for just 37 runs.

Lateef Trott, the Bay all-rounder, was the star of the show with a hat-trick, culminating in the match-sealing wicket of Dean Stephens.

Arguably the key bowling performance, however, came from Kyle Hodsoll, the fast-medium bowler, who took three for 22 in nine overs.

Hodsoll opened the bowling with a miserly five-over spell in which he removed Shaquille Jones, and returned later to calm things down just when it seemed that Douglas was dragging Cuts into contention.

Earlier, the foundation of Bay’s innings had been a 98-run third-wicket partnership between Delray Rawlins and Stephen Outerbridge that owed more to grit and determination than flair.

Outerbridge, the captain, struggled to find his usual fluency, scoring 54 from 89 balls before being run out by Malachi Jones; Rawlins hit 66 from 94 balls.

That left Calvin Dill and Hodsoll to up the tempo late on, which they did to great effect: Dill smashed 30 from 16 balls, including two sixes, and Hodsoll notched an unbeaten 33 from 20, with two sixes.

Bay amassed 94 in their final ten overs and then saw their score gain a further boost in the form of 18 penalty runs for a slow over-rate by Cuts.

Kamal Bashir and Malachi Jones were the pick of the Cuts bowlers, taking two wickets each.

Cuts’ reply got off to a poor start when opener Ricardo Brangman was dismissed for a four-ball duck by Rodney Trott, the off spinner, who was opening the bowling with Hodsoll.

Ten accurate overs of the Hodsoll-Trott combination left the visiting side struggling on 18 for two. Respite finally arrived when the pair were withdrawn from the attack, with Douglas and Deunte Darrell launching into a succession of boundaries off Lateef Trott and Burton Outerbridge.

With Douglas taking risks and Darrell offering solid support, the pair put on 126 for the third wicket and began to threaten a comeback, until Hodsoll finally returned to bowl Darrell in the fourth ball of his spell.

Ironically, it was Outerbridge, the most expensive bowler of the day, whose four overs went for 45, who removed Douglas to ensure that the momentum was right back with Bay. Douglas, who had already hit five sixes, picked out Fray as he attempted a sixth. The dangerous Jones went for just four, caught on the boundary by Tre Govia off Dill — and by then there was no stopping Bay.

Rodney Trott took an excellent catch to remove Sheroy Fubler to give Lateef Trott his first wicket; Kevon Fubler was bowled next ball. Trott had to wait until his next over for his chance at a hat-trick, which he seized by bowling Stephens.