Warwick 84 Champions Willow Cuts must have feared the worst when Warwick dismissed them for just 143 at White Hill Field on Saturday in the opening round of the Western Counties Cup.

But strike bowlers Rodney Fubler and Vance Gilbert extinguished any Warwick threat late in the afternoon by taking seven wickets between them to lead Cuts to a comfortable 59-run victory.

The two Cuts seamers had Warwick on the ropes early by removing openers Johnny Nusum and Peter Lee with just 12 runs on the board. And though Stevie Lightbourne and colt Ritchie Foggo steadied things with a third wicket stand of 27 -- the team's biggest -- Cuts quickly regained the upper hand when Lightbourne and Foggo were removed in the space of five runs for eight and 13 respectively.

Trent Lightbourne and his uncle El James were the last of the big bats for Warwick, at five and six, and though they raised hopes briefly with a fifth wicket stand of 19 in taking the score from 44 to 63, the overs were diminishing fast as Cuts' bowlers kept a tight grip on the match.

Warwick's hopes effectively ended when they lost three wickets on 63 as Lightbourne went for 15, the team's top score, James for six and Daniel Morgan without scoring as Fubler picked up his third wicket and Gilbert his fourth.

Fubler finished with three for 21 off 17 overs with eight maidens while Gilbert claimed four for 34 from 16 overs with four maidens.

Richard Basden and Kevin Fubler were then left to take two of the last three wickets as no other Warwick batsman reached double figures. In total they batted for 44.4 overs for their 84 runs.

Cuts had also found runs hard to come by, batting out their allotted 55 overs for just 143. So tight was the Warwick attack that just three bowlers were used with Alan Wilkinson and El James bowling 47 of the 55 overs between them after Daniel Caines sent down eight overs with the new ball.

Wilkinson picked up five for 43 from 27 successive overs and James three for 56 from 20 overs in succession. Cuts captain Dexter Basden led their batting with 40, having put on 41 for the first wicket with Jermaine Warner, who hit 30 of those runs before he was bowled by Wilkinson.

Two wickets fell on 46 as Cuts slipped to 46-3 before a fourth wicket stand of 25 between Basden and Andre Hendrickson, which Basden dominated, slowed Warwick's progress.

Basden played a true captain's role, watching five partners go before he was eventually sixth out when the score was on 97. There was solid resistance in the tail-end as Vivian Simons and Vance Gilbert scored 11 and 15 respectively in an unbeaten ninth wicket stand of 29.

Willow Cuts will meet Southampton Rangers in the second round on August 12 with the final scheduled for August 26 and 27.