Somerset Cricket Club (Western Stars won toss): Western Stars beat Willow Cuts by 94 runs

Western Stars completed a dominating weekend of T20 cricket on with a second lopsided victory in as many days, this time a destruction of Willow Cuts.

Following Saturday’s devastation of St David’s at Devonshire Rec, where Stars’ bowlers gleamed brightest, yesterday provided an opportunity for their batters to shine on a friendly wicket.

“It’s always good to start well,” said Stars captain Tre Manders.

“We had St David’s booked from the 50 overs, so we stuck to our plan and we were lucky it came off on a wicket that was not the best.

“We bowled well in our second innings yesterday and I told the guys that we’d stick to the same plan today and not change anything and it worked out well.

“We’re on top of the tables right now, based on run rate, which we’ve kept high and that’s where we want to be.”

Manders placed less pressure and responsibility on his bowlers against Cuts, leading from the front as he and Jaiden Manders put on 63 for the first wicket before the latter was bowled by Joseph Basden for 31.

However, while Jaiden provided an ideal foil, scoring at a run-a-ball clip, it was Tre who was at his cavalier best, aggressively targeting Cuts’ attack as he slammed eight sixes and five fours in a top knock of 89 from just 47 balls.

And even as Cuts hoped Manders’s dismissal might bring a change in fortunes, the visitors continued to accelerate with Brian Hall (29 not out) and Khiry Furbert (44 not out) putting on an unbroken 56-run partnership for the third wicket, taking the score beyond the 200 mark.

“I missed out on the hundred, but I felt good out there,” said Tre Manders.

“I knew that today was going to produce a big innings because the wicket has always been nice for batting and I was absolutely looking to bat first and had told the boys from last night that’s what we’d do if I won the toss.

“We put up a good total and had good partnerships, which is good, and shows that the team is well rounded and it’s not just about me scoring runs, but Brian, Khiry and Jaiden -played their parts well.

“Most people think about Western Stars being Tre Manders and everything falling on me, but that’s not the case because we have a lot of guys that can do the job.”

Almost from the outset of their innings, scoring 219 at a rate of 10.9 runs per over appeared an improbable task for Willow Cuts despite favourable batting conditions.

As they crept to 30 from the opening powerplay overs the task became simply impossible, with the run rate escalating further.

Unable to dissect the field for boundaries and seemingly unwilling to run between the wickets with the necessary conviction, the required run rate climbed beyond reach, and even as the middle and late order attempted to hit out, efforts proved futile as wickets fell with regularity.

At the end, Shaquille Bean stood as a lone success after batting throughout for an unbeaten 60, but he was a man alone on an island.

Hall completed a masterful all-round performance by claiming five for 30, with Naquan Smith taking a brace, while Seth Campbell and Makai Young each took one wicket.

Despite the loss, Willow Cuts captain Antonio Darrell was encouraged by his team’s fight to the finish.

“Even though it was a high total we guys fought to the end and put in a great effort,” Darrell said.

“I salute my team, because while it was hard they still fought their way through. Congratulations to Stars for the win, but today’s effort was good and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

“They had some good partnerships with Tre Manders and others. We could have had them but their guys really stuck in, made runs, took advantage of the bad balls in putting them away, which is something we should have done and will have to work on for the future.”