Bailey's Bay 176

Southampton 177-6

Southampton Rangers bundled Bailey's Bay out of the Premier Division KO Cup at the first hurdle at Southampton Oval on Sunday.

Just 24 hours after pulling off a thrilling five-wicket upset over St.David's in the final of the Eastern Counties at Sea Breeze Oval, Bay found themselves facing two formidable foes on Sunday - hangovers and a well rested Southampton team.

"The guys were still tired from partying last night," conceded Bay vice-captain Dennis Pilgrim following the match.

"We still gave it a good fight, dug deep and made Southampton fight hard for it.

"Our focus is now on next weekend's Champion of Champions title."

Southampton, chasing 177 for victory, raced to their winning target in just 27.5 overs, with Keith Wainwright paving the way with 46 off 51 balls which contained nine fours.

Two further brisk knocks by Stevie Lightbourne (33) and Ricky Brangman (35) saw the home team romp comfortably to a four wicket victory to advance into the next round of the competition.

Bay were also costly in the field, yielding 29 runs to their hosts' total.

Yuseff Pitt was the pick of Bay's bowling, claiming three wickets for 35 runs, while Dion Ball grabbed two for 27 and Corey Hill an expensive one for 47.

Earlier, with the previous day's spoils proudly on display at mid wicket, and their fans anxiously awaiting the resumption of celebrations, Bay found themselves in deep trouble, reeling at 51 for six with Kenny Phillips (two for 42) and young Dwia Blyden (two for 53) the chief catalyst.

But Bay dug deep and thanks to a few spilled offerings and an aggressive unbeaten 97 from skipper Romaine - by far one of his better knocks of the season - the east enders were able to post a challenging total.

Apart from this superb individual effort, only Stephen Outerbridge (17) and Pitt (12) managed to reach double figures.

Romaine, dropped twice in the 80's, cracked ten fours and seven sixes off 74 balls in 150 minutes and was unfortunate not to reach a deserved century after Dennis Trott - who retired hurt earlier in the innings - could not shake off the knock and return to the crease.

Ryan Belboda led the Southampton bowling with four wickets for 36, while player/coach Clevie Wade had one for 18 off 1.5 overs, however, the home side were also generous in the field, giving up 21 runs to Bay's tally.