Rangers demolish St David's in Knockout final
Janeiro Tucker and Ryan Belboda claimed six wickets between while skipper Dion Stovell blasted a swashbuckling 38 to guide Rangers to an emphatic seven-wicket victory over St David's in a low-scoring rain hit Logic Knockout Championship final at Sea Breeze Oval.Rangers restricted the Islanders to their second lowest total of the season after sending them into bat and then reached their target with 85 balls to spare to add another trophy to their Belco Cup and Western Counties titles.“The guys bowled well, fielded well and batted well and I was very impressed with them,” said jubilant Rangers coach Ricky Brangman. “The guys came down really wanting to play.“We talked about the match all week and said if we win the toss we would put them in and give them 150. That's what we were working on.”The only down side to Rangers' emphatic win was the conduct of opening batsman Curtis Jackson who had a few choice words for umpire Kent Gibbons after he was judged lbw.“Sometimes you get overwhelmed when you put your heart into it and play hard,” Brangman added. “That happens in the game sometimes and I told him to apologise to the umpire.”Skipper Stovell led Rangers' shallow run chase during a 33-ball innings that contained seven fours.He added 24 runs for the second wicket with Jackson (eight) and another 42 with Janeiro Tucker (nine not out) for the third before feathering a catch into the gloves of wicketkeeper Fiqre Crockwell off veteran off spinner Del Hollis with his team requiring three more runs for victory.Incoming batsman Derrick Brangman (six not out) smashed Hollis over the long off boundary to end the match in a flurry and ignite his team's celebrations.George O'Brien Jr (1-29) and Hollis (1-8) took one wicket each while Rangers opening bat Alex Dore was run out for a duck attempting a risky single.Rangers' run chase was interrupted by rain which halted play at 3:25pm.Play eventually resumed at 5.05pm when the skies cleared with Rangers set a revised target of 75 runs in 27 overs.“I knew the sun would come out,” Brangman said. “It was just a matter of time.”Earlier, Tucker (3-9) and Belboda (3-10) ruthlessly plucked the heart out of the Islanders' top and middle order with some clever bowling.Belboda made the initial breakthrough in the second over of the innings with an away swinger that found the edge of Delyone Borden's (one) bat and nestled into the gloves of wicketkeeper Kwame Tucker.The veteran seamer, playing in only his third match of the season, then had Maclaren Lowe (17) caught at long off after the batsmen failed to pick a slower delivery and Crockwell (14) held by Janeiro Tucker at slip to leave St David's wobbling at 35 for three.Tucker then sliced through the Islanders' middle order to keep the pressure on.The second change bowler was introduced into the attack in the 14th over and claimed the wicket of the big hitting O'Brien (11) who edged a straight delivery into the hands of Stovell fielding at slip.The Rangers stalwart struck again in his third over when he had St David's skipper OJ Pitcher (three) caught at mid off before bowling Loren Marshall (nine) who played over a slower delivery in his fourth to leave the Islanders in deep trouble at 63 for seven.Tucker also held onto three catches to cap a fine all round display in the field.Left-arm spinner Derrick Brangman, son of Rangers coach Ricky, mopped up the tail, claiming the wickets of Rudell Pitcher (30) and Hollis (0) with successive deliveries to bring the curtains down on the innings.St David's' innings lasted 34.5 overs, with top scorer Rudell Pitcher belting three sixes and a four during his 38-ball knock.The loss was only the second of the season for Logic 50 Over and Eastern Counties champs St David's following their loss to Rangers in the Belco Cup final at Lords last May.