Lord’s (St David’s won toss): Bailey’s Bay beat St David’s by eight wickets

Delray Rawlins produced an excellent all-round display as Bailey’s Bay breezed past St David’s in the Athene T20 Premier Division on Sunday.

Rawlins picked up three wickets for 14 runs in four overs as St David's were limited to 100 runs for nine wickets in 20 overs. The Bermuda captain then top scored for Bay with a quickfire 33, off 19 balls, before he became one of the two wickets to fall before his side reached victory with 34 balls to spare.

With two matches of the domestic T20 season remaining, Rawlins was satisfied with the team’s performance as they keep an eye on the net run-rate which separates Bay and St George’s.

“It was a nice game for me individually,’’ Rawlins said.

“As a team we've done well and we wanted to try to win by a big margin as obviously the net run-rate is going to come into play at the end of this championship.

“We’re trying to win the game as quickly as possible and boost our net run-rate, and that’s what we did.

“We’re pleased with the performance and we’re looking to push next week. Same approach, just try to turn up and win games, work hard at training and win games on the weekend.

“I've struggled a little bit with my bowling but I had to back myself and find my rhythm again.”

St David’s struggled after losing the wickets of Aaron Paynter and captain Justin Pitcher early in their innings. That they managed to reach 100 was largely due to a fine knock by youngster Isaiah O'Brien.

His 26-ball 35 stood out with the next best score coming from Eugene Ball with 11. O’Brien struck two fours and three sixes before he was dismissed by his Bermuda Under-19 team-mate Terron Webb.

It was a fine knock by the 16-year-old who was playing for a team one man light.

“Today we were a little bit short of players so I came in No 3,’’ O’Brien said.

“We lost a couple of early wickets so I knew I had to stay there and bat, and I feel like I gave Delray a lucky catch.

“It’s not our best season, we've had better, but we’re going to put that past us and come again against Willow Cuts next Saturday.”

Bay were never troubled in chasing such a low total and while Sharye Tavares departed for four in the second over, Rawlins and opener Coolidge Durham combined to push them closer to the finish line with a 65-run stand for the second wicket.

When Rawlins departed, Durham, who finished unbeaten on 30, was joined by captain Terryn Fray. His contribution to the run chase was an undefeated 29 including a boundary off the bowling off Pitcher to bring the game to an end.

Pitcher applauded his team for displaying some fighting spirit and not easily giving up.

“It’s not a good feeling to lose a match,’’ Pitcher said.

“The way we play determines the way we win and lose. As long as guys put an effort in, don't give up, have a fighting spirit and want to back each other then I can’t complain if we lose that way.

“I just want to commend my youngsters for hanging in there as it’s been a real rough season for us.

“Our senior players have working commitments and we’re short of players. We’re trying to fill in for guys who play certain roles but it’s tough and we’ve got to dig deep to fight through it.

“We just want to finish the season as high as possible, take the positives out of each match and strive to come back stronger next season.”