Southampton 224-8 Willow Cuts 160 The confirmed ban of Richard Basden and a no-show by guest player Tyrone Smith proved costly as Willow Cuts failed in their bid to reclaim the Western Counties Cup on Saturday at Southampton Oval.

The absence of these two top batsmen was probably the difference between winning and losing for the challengers who went down by 62 runs.

Basden had his five match ban, imposed for ungentlemanly conduct, reduced to four on appeal, but was still ineligible for Saturday's match, having only sat out three games.

Then Cuts suffered another blow going into the game when Tyrone Smith of Police failed to appear. Cuts captain Dexter Basden had received word that Smith was on his way and subsequently named him in the team that was presented to the umpires.

But when he never showed, Cuts were forced to play with 10 men which put them at a disadvantage from the outset after winning the toss and sending the champions in to bat.

Even though they drew early blood when Kwame Tucker was bowled by Charles Swan in the fifth over to make it 8-1, Rangers soon had them on the defensive with some solid batting.

In the next 11 overs Dexter Smith and Keith Wainwright laid the foundation for the Rangers recovery, adding 54 for the second wicket before Smith was trapped lbw by Jermaine Warner for 31.

The team's biggest stand helped propel them to a match-winning total when Wainwright and his captain Olin Jones put on 95 for the third wicket in 22 overs, advancing the score from 62 to 157.

Wainwright led Rangers batting with 85, including seven fours and two sixes, while Jones hit three boundaries in a more subdued 38. That stand was broken when seldom-used bowler Trevor Dickinson had Jones stumped by Gladwin Edness in his third over.

In that same over Dickinson removed Janeiro Tucker for one to start a collapse which saw five wickets go down for 30 runs before Dwayne Steede (25 not out) and colt David Burchall (10 not out) put on 33 for the ninth wicket as the 200 came up in the closing overs.

Charles Swan, who claimed two wickets in his second spell during that middle order collapse, finished with four for 31 from 10 overs while Dickinson claimed two for 29 from five.

Set a winning target of 4.48 an over, Cuts were in early trouble when Jermaine Warner fell to Clarkie Trott on the second ball of the innings and Dwayne Basden and captain Dexter Basden followed in the eighth and ninth overs to make it 22-3.

And with only 10 men, Cuts were already starting to get anxious. Dwight Basden (32) and Cordell Gilbert (27) eased that anxiety somewhat with a fourth wicket stand of 68 in 15 overs. Basden, seemingly on top of the bowling threw his wicket away with a big hit that resulted in a catch to Gary Crofton in the short extra covers.

Gilbert held up one end for two hours and 15 minutes but by the time he was seventh out on 146, Rangers were well in control with 113 still needed in the last 22 overs.

Gilbert was involved in two promising stands, the first with Gladwin Edness (18) which produced 22 for the fifth wicket and the second with Rodney Fubler (25) which was worth 31 for the seventh wicket.

Janeiro Tucker picked up the key wicket of Edness with his first delivery when he knocked back the off-stump and in the next over Dickinson was bowled by Crofton.

Gilbert's departure exposed the tailenders and when Rodney Fubler followed two balls later at the other end, after hitting Crofton for two sixes over mid-wicket, Cuts knew defeat was inevitable.

Tucker finished with three for 19 runs from 6.5 overs while Clarkie Trott had two for 16 off eight and Crofton, in his first match of the season, two for 35 to take Rangers into the final against Somerset Bridge on September 5.