Sea Breeze Oval (Western Stars won toss): Bailey’s Bay beat Western Stars by five wickets

Delray Rawlins showcased his undoubted talent with a brilliant all-round display to keep unbeaten leaders Bailey’s Bay firmly on course for the Premier Division 50 Overs title.

The Bermuda captain took the wickets of three of Western Stars’s top four batsmen with his slow left-arm to help restrict them to 122 for 9 in a match reduced to 34 overs.

Rawlins then led the chase with a boundary-laden 47 from just 27 balls and dominated a 72-run partnership with wicketkeeper Azende Furbert (25) to put his side back in the ascendancy after they were reduced to 16 for three early in their innings.

The Sussex all-rounder fell just three runs shy of his half century after holing out in the deep, leaving former captain Stephen Outerbridge (14) and Rodney Trott (15) to finish the job without further loss.

“I thought we were pretty ruthless with the ball once we got a few early wickets, which is what we asked,” Rawlins said.

“I was just trying to take wickets and obviously the wicket was tricky, so trying to chase as little as possible was the aim.

“The score of 122 today wasn’t really enough on that wicket. Another 50 to 60 on there might have been a bit more difficult, but it was clinical to win by five wickets.”

Seamer Macquille Walker made the initial breakthrough in the first over when opener Jaiden Manders was caught at slip for a first-ball duck before Rawlins opened his account when trapping Jason Anderson (7) leg-before with a straight ball.

Stars wicketkeeper and top scorer Khiry Furbert (20) and captain Tre Manders (8) added a timely 19 to steady the ship before Rawlins struck again when trapping the former in front of the stumps with another straight delivery.

Furbert’s dismissal triggered a major collapse with Stars losing four wickets for 25 runs in the space of ten overs as the Bay attack tightened their grip on the match.

Makai Young (18) and Dionte Dowling (13) offered resistance further down the order before Walker picked up two more wickets during his second spell to keep the Stars batsmen under wraps.

The new-ball bowler led the Bay attack with four for 34 while Rawlins took three for eight, including one maiden.

All rounders Michael Agard (one for 21) and Kyle Hodsoll (one for 16) claimed the remaining Stars wickets.

Bay’s chase got off to a wobbly start with Sharye Tavares (0), fellow opening batsman Coolidge Durham (1) and captain Terryn Fray (6) all dismissed cheaply.

However, Rawlins came in and put the Stars attack to the sword with some powerful hitting to put his side in the driving seat.

The left-handed batsman pierced the gaps with clinical precision and dispatched short deliveries with disdain, off spinners Brian Hall and Young bearing the brunt of Rawlins’s swashbuckling exploits going for 12 and 20 runs in a single over.

Rawlins’s aggressive innings finally ended when Hall took a brilliant running catch with Furbert the last Bay wicket to fall with 21 runs still required and plenty of wickets and overs in hand.

It was left to Outerbridge and Trott to carry the hosts safely across the line with 72 balls to spare, the latter pulling Tre Manders to the vacant long-on boundary to clinch victory.

“I tried to put them under pressure and a few came off the middle and went across the rope, so I was pretty happy,” Rawlins said of his whirlwind knock that included five sixes and two fours.

“It was tough to start, which was the main thing, but once you were in it was fine after that.

“I was a bit disappointed I didn’t get the half-century, but that’s part of the game and hopefully next time it goes across it. Obviously things [title race] will probably come down to net run-rate and I was trying to keep going and finish the game off.”

Seamer Seth Cambell was the pick of the Stars bowling with two for 24 while Hall claimed two for 29.

Jekon Edness, the Stars coach, was pleased with his team’s gutsy display in defeat.

“I think the performance was OK and the guys can leave here with their heads up high,” he said.

“We batted out our overs on a very difficult pitch and got five wickets but they had one exceptional player who took the game away from us.”

Bay will take on second-place Cleveland County in the title decider at the North Field, National Sports Centre, next weekend.