St David’s, 319 for six, beat Southampton Rangers, 150 all out, by 169 runs. (Points: –St David’s 17, Rangers 0)If this is all that Southampton Rangers have to offer then the defending champions could be joining a very select group this season, by being relegated a year after winning the title.Outthought and outplayed by a fired up St David’s side, they would also have been outfought if they had tried to put up a fight. As it was they ran up the white flag long before this game was over and it is difficult to see them winning very often over the next couple of months.The men in blue have a wealth of experience in their side, but they were tactically naive throughout yesterday and while their veteran players have rescued them on several occasions in the past, this season could be a step too far for this aging team.Chasing 320 to win might seem like a tall order, however, on the postage-sized Southampton Oval it is not that outlandish to ask a side to score at 6.4 an over.Rangers though, instead of batting normally, decided the best thing to do was to try and bash their way through the first 10 or 15 overs sending out several sacrificial lambs, and hiding the likes of Janeiro Tucker and Shannon Rayner well down the order.So, Jason Wade (23) opened with Dion Stovell, and the move backfired almost immediately. Stovell became the excellent Justin Pitcher’s first victim when he was caught at third man by Loren Marshall for just six, and Pitcher then accounted for Curtis Jackson and Gerald Simons as Rangers slipped to 49 for four.Rayner finally appeared, albeit briefly, coming in at six but was out soon after when Fiqre Crockwell’s direct throw hit the stumps and ran him out coming back for a needless second.In deep trouble at 66 for five, Rangers were forced to take their batting power play in just the 17 over, and lost Janeiro Tucker, who came in at seven, when he holed out to Marshall on the long-on boundary.St David’s only mistake yesterday was in not claiming two bonus points for bowling Rangers out in less than 30 overs. The departure of Kwame Tucker (38) left the home side on 98 for seven and gave St David’s nine overs to mop up the tail.However, instead of recalling Justin Pitcher, who had three overs left to bowl, they used a combination of Delyone Borden, CeeJay Outerbridge, Landro Minors, Fiqre Crockwell and Lionel Cann in eventually bowling Rangers out for 150 in 36.4 overs.Pitcher, meanwhile, finished with figures of three wickets for 24 runs from his seven overs and his pace and aggression mirrored the approach of the whole St David’s team.They had some help along the way from a Rangers side who bowled badly, fielded badly and handed them the initiative before a ball had been bowled by winning the toss and opting to field.Rangers will argue that things might have been different if a couple of umpiring decisions had gone their way, namely against Borden who appeared to have been caught behind when a super delivery from Stephan Dill cut him in half, got an inside edge and was well caught by Kwame Tucker.St David’s were 36 without loss at that stage and Borden (83) and Ajaun Lamb (57) eventually put on 102 for the first wicket. They reached three figures in just 17 overs and passed the point for a batting bonus when Quinton Burch sent down five consecutive wides. In all Rangers conceded 24 wides and 39 extras in total.Lamb and Crockwell were dismissed in quick succession but Borden and OJ Pitcher then set about putting on 93 for the third wicket and St David’s were only denied a second 100-run partnership when Pitcher was given out caught behind to a ball that appeared to come off his thigh pad.The loss of Lionel Cann to another dubious umpiring decision did little to slow the St David’s charge, and Landro Minors (29*) and Loren Marshall (37*) put on 58 for the final wicket.If Rangers had approached their innings with purpose then the game would undoubtedly have been closer than it was. But they didn’t appear to have the stomach for the fight and –although tailenders Stephan Dill (16) and Ryan Belboda (27) did their best to delay the inevitable the game had been over as a –contest long before they came to the crease.n Willow Cuts got their Premier Division campaign off to a winning start in a low scoring affair at Somerset Cricket Club.Batting first Cuts scored 180 all out, and were indebted to Bergen Spencer’s 53 at the end in helping them to a competitive total.Spencer aside only Chris Douglas (41) and Sheroy Fubler (32) made a real impact with the bat.Kyle Lightbourne took three wickets for 48 runs, while Hasan Durham and Keishon Wilson picked up two wickets apiece.PHC’s run chase appeared to be on track with Chris Foggo (41) and Kamau Leverock (31) scoring well at the top of the order, even after they had departed Lightbourne (32) seemed to be guiding his side to victory until he was run out in controversial circumstances.Cuts eventually came out on top, with Malachi Jones leading the way, taking three wickets for 45 runs.