Sea Breeze Oval (St George's won toss): Bailey’s Bay beat St George’s by 51 runs

Macquille Walker was at his devastating best with the ball, claiming a seven-wicket haul to inspire Bailey’s Bay to a 51-run victory over St George's at Sea Breeze Oval yesterday.

After setting a target of 207 from 49.3 overs in which Coolidge Durham and Steven Outerbridge top-scored with 42, Walker quickly set about tearing through the order, claiming the first five wickets midway through the eleventh over of St George’s innings with just 61 runs scored.

Just four overs later, Walker directly ran out Macai Simmons before going on to claim his sixth victim, Sinclair Smith (0), at the start of the seventeenth, with the visitors still four runs shy of 100 and just two wickets in hand. Zeko Burgess (6) also fell off the bowling of Walker at the end of the nineteenth over to complete his impressive haul.

While Onias Bascome (41 not out) and Jabari Darrell (11) put up some late resistance, they could not prevent the inevitable, as the latter fell as the final wicket at the end of the 25th over with 155 runs on the board.

The performance marks an impressive return to the sport for Walker after a near-decade hiatus, having previously turned his back on the game after accepting a college scholarship to play football in the United States.

“It was a really important performance for myself because I’ve been away from the game for about nine years and to come back and play like that means a lot,” said Walker, who also took immense joy of silencing a rival team, who had former Bay players Zeko Burgess, Rodney Trott and Sinclair Smith among their ranks.

“When wickets are flowing like that, you certainly gain confidence. It also helps playing against one of your rivals when things are going well; that certainly pushed me on more.

“There was definitely a bit of extra spice coming into the game with it being against a rival and a couple of our players leaving for St George’s this season.

“The performance is certainly a confidence boost for me on a personal level and the victory is a big boost for the whole team.”

Having been put into bat, Bay lost opener Sharye Tavares (7) at the start of the fourth over with just 19 runs scored. However, fellow opener Durham and Brandon Trott steadied the innings, taking the score past 50, before the latter fell to the first ball of the eleventh over.

Durham was dismissed at the end of the 22nd over with Bay seven runs short of 100, before Terryn Fray (23) departed just four overs later, with only a further ten runs added to the total.

Steven Outerbridge joined Jarryd Richardson (24) at the crease and took Bay to 173 before the former was caught off the bowling of Trott at the end if the 42nd over. Jordan Burgess (0) followed just four balls later without the total being added to as the final wickets fell in quick succession.

Richardson and Shaquille Outerbridge (0) departed in successive balls with the score at 176 for eight at the end of the 44th over, before Kris Jackman (6) fell with the first ball of the 46th with a further seven runs added.

Kyle Hodsoll (12) was the last wicket to fall three balls short of Bay’s allotted 50 overs, with Walker on five not out. Trott was the pick of the St George’s bowlers with figures of four for 29, while Burgess claimed three wickets, giving up 43 runs.

Any early optimism at the start of St George's reply quickly waned as opener Oronde Bascome (14), fell in the first over with 19 runs scored before Trott (0), and Treadwell Gibbons (0) also fell victim to Walker in successive balls at the start of the fifth over as the towering fast bowler completed his hat-trick.

Allan Douglas Jr (20) and opener Temiko Wilson (20) steadied the innings somewhat but both were also dismissed off the bowling of Walker with the score at 61 for five and only 11.4 overs bowled.

Simmons (28) was next to depart with 93 runs on the board in the sixteenth over, directly run out my Walker with the batsman caught stranded. Detroy Smith (0) and Sinclair Smith (0) followed in the space of the next eight balls, off the bowling of Jordan Burgess and Walker respectively, with only three runs added to the total.

Onias Bascome did his utmost to keep any small hope intact but by the time Zeko Burgess was dismissed as Walker’s final wicket at the end of the 20th over and 111 runs on the board, the sense of inevitability grew.

To their credit, Bascome and Darrell remained for a further five overs before the latter was caught off the bowling of Hodsoll at the end of the 25th over to spark wild celebrations among the Bay players and fans.

Bailey’s Bay

S Tavares c Oronde Bascome b D Smith 7

C Durham c Gibbons b Onias Bascome 42

B Trott c Darrell b Burgess 7

*T Fray c Sinclair b Burgess 23

Steven Outerbridge c Burgess b Trott 42

†J Richardson st S Smith b Trott 24

J Burgess c Gibbons b Burgess 0

K Jackman st S Smith b Trott 6

Shaquille Outerbridge lbw b Trott 0

K Hodsoll b D Smith 12

M Walker not out 5

Extras (nb 1, lb 11, w 26) 38

Total (49.3 overs) 206

Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-51, 3-93, 4-103, 5-173, 6-173, 7-176, 8-176, 9-183.

Bowling: D Smith 8.3-0-49-2; Darrell 6.0-0-24-0; Douglas 11-3-31-0; Burgess 9-0-43-3; Trott 10-0-29-4; Onias Bascome 5.1-0-19-1.

St George’s

T Wilson c Trott b Walker 20

Oronde Bascome c Richardson b Walker 14

R Trott c Steven Outerbridge b Walker 0

T Gibbons lbw b Walker 0

A Douglas b Walker 20

M Simmons run out 28

*Onias Bascome not out 41

D Smith c Steven Outerbridge b Burgess 0

S Smith c B Trott b Walker 0

Z Burgess c Richardson b Walker 6

J Darrell c Richardson b Hodsoll 11

Extras (b 5, lb 3, w 7) 15

Total (25 overs) 155

Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-29, 3-29, 4-48, 5-61, 6-93, 7-96, 8-96, 9-111.

Bowling: Hodsoll 8-0-58-1; Walker 10-2-38-7; Burgess 7-0-51-1.

Umpires: S Caines and R Dill.