St.George's 188-9 dec. and 173

Somerset 239 and 94

St.George's Cricket Club pulled off one of the most sensational wins ever witnessed in 104 years of Cup Match at Wellington Oval yesterday.

Few would have bet against Somerset losing the cup when the East Enders were skittled out at 2.40 p.m. yesterday afternoon for 173 - a second innings lead of only 120 runs - leaving the champions with three and a half hours plus the mandatory 20 overs to complete what should have been a formality.

But colt George O'Brien jr and Gregg Foggo combined to rewrite the script, ripping through the Somerset order with ten wickets between them to sign, seal and deliver St.George's' first win at the Oval since 1997 and clinch the closest victory - by 27 runs - since Somerset won by the same margin in 1959.

O'Brien's outstanding 11-wicket match haul for 120 runs was the second best bowling performance ever by a colt, bettered only by Clarence Parfitt's figures of 15 for 43 in 1965.

And in Foggo he found the perfect ally as the former skipper grabbed overall match figures of five for 39 - including the last four Somerset wickets to fall during a tumultuous four-over spell.

O'Brien and St.George's celebrations, however, were tarnished by two controversial umpiring decisions in both innings and then the colt's right-hook to the face guard of Stephen Outerbridge that would have impressed Mike Tyson but left cricket purists sick to the stomach.

But not even these incidents could dampen the spirits of thousands of St.George's fans as they spilled onto the pitch at 5.22 p.m. after Foggo had splintered Kevin Hurdle's stumps to ignite perhaps the mother of celebrations in the old town.

An evenly contested match had it all - drama, controversy, passion, record-breaking performances and moments of sheer brilliance.

St.George's veteran batsman Charlie Marshall (1,163) surpassed former team-mate Wendell Smith's record for the most runs in the classic, Somerset fast bowler Kevin Hurdle produced the best bowling performance by a West Ender since Arthur Simons in 1934 in taking six first innings wickets for 25 runs while skipper Janeiro Tucker and Saleem Mukuddem put on a 96-run partnership in 103 minutes for the fifth-wicket - the second best behind Charles Daulphin and Sheridan Raynor in 1964.

Former St.George's skipper Clay Smith took his individual run tally in the classic up to 943 runs to take over fourth spot, team-mate Lionel Cann moved into fifth with 885 runs while wicketkeeper Chris Foggo celebrated his first Cup Match half-century.

After losing the toss, Somerset sent their hosts in to bat and quickly gained the upper hand with St.George's reeling at 60 for four after 12 overs. But Marshall and Cann added stability to the innings in the form of a well-timed 68-run fifth-wicket stand before the latter virtually threw his wicket away, slashing at a wide and short pitched Hurdle delivery. Cann stroked 32 runs off 26 balls in 74 minutes, including three fours and two straight sixes off Dwayne Leverock.

Marshall then departed nine overs later when Jacobi Robinson pushed back his stumps, but not before the veteran batsman had smashed the second ball of Leverock's seventh over beyond the mid-wicket boundary for six to eclipse Smith's previous best of 1,143 runs in the classic and bring up his half-century off 61 balls in 120 minutes.

However, any thoughts of St.George's posting a formidable score to defend went completely out the window as Somerset's Hurdle - back for second spell - and Robinson wiped out the East Enders' tail without much resistance before the home team declared their innings at 2.40 p.m. with 188 runs on the board and one wicket in hand.

Chris Foggo (15), Delyone Borden (11), Clay Smith (21) and Gregg Foggo (14) were the only other St.George's bats in double digits.

After taking three for 11 off his first spell, Hurdle came back on the ball in the 31st over and claimed an additional three wickets for 12 runs while Robinson - guilty of being called for 14 no balls - took three for 68 off 12.4 overs.

In reply, Somerset raced to 56 without loss when disaster struck in the form of opener Curtis Jackson pulling a calf muscle at a time he was all over the St.George's attack and Wendell White throwing his wicket away, caught behind only one delivery after having been put down by Troy Hall in the deep.

From this point wickets fell at regular intervals until Tucker and Mukuddem (38) came together at the crease and rescued their team from 93 for four to 189 in 16 overs before the latter fell victim to a Ryan Steede delivery - his first dismissal in three classics since debuting in 2003.

Tucker (72) reached a well-deserved and polished half-century in the 32nd over off 54 balls in 72 minutes before he was the sixth wicket to fall at 225 after adding 36 runs with Hasan Durham.

Somerset crossed St.George's score at 6.05 p.m. with five wickets in hand and they should have stamped their authority all over the match and opened up a sizeable first innings lead.

Instead they fell like the proverbial deck of cards once Tucker went for the big hit and was caught at long-on by Gregg Foggo. Somerset then lost the wickets of Durham, Jackson - in the most bizarre fashion - Leverock and finally Robinson in the space of 14 runs in four overs.

Jackson, aided by a runner, was controversially judged to have been run out at the non-striker's end on a no ball call in the 38th over after O'Brien had bowled Robinson. What ensued were scenes the lovely game can do without as opposing players and team officials convened at mid-wicket in heated pushing and shoving and verbal protest.

After a brief chat with square leg umpire Jeff Pitcher, colleague Lester Harnett declared Jackson - who had to be helped off the field - out amid his team's pleas that the ball had been declared dead and the batsmen never attempted a run.

Their calls, however, fell on deaf ears.

Somerset were finally dismissed at 7.03 p.m. for 239 - a slim first innings lead of 53 runs that kept their hosts in with a fighting chance heading into the second day's play.

O'Brien finished with five for 87 and Steede three for 60 with Foggo claiming the other Somerset wicket to fall.

But for the second time in the match St.George's struggled in a bid to score quick runs.

Apart from Chris Foggo's maiden half-century (59) scored off 68 balls in 146 minutes and containing six fours and two sixes - he also took three excellent first innings catches behind the stumps - Cann's knock of 32 and skipper Herbie Bascome's 24, the remaining East End bats fell cheaply.

St.George's were eventually dismissed in 43.2 overs with a rejuvenated Robinson - the recipient of the Safe Hands Award for a gem of a second innings catch at mid-wicket to dismiss Marshall - taking five for 50 of 11 overs of medium pace and leg spinner Leverock two for 37.

With all the time in the world, clear skies and really no pressure, Somerset must have sensed victory was easily within their grasp.

But the runaway express of O'Brien and Foggo suddenly turned the game on its head.

O'Brien removed Somerset's top six bats in the space of 14 overs with only 72 runs on the board before passing the baton to Foggo to bring the coveted cup home on the key dismissal of skipper Tucker which ushered in an eerie silence among West End fans around the ground.

And the manner in which Foggo sealed St.George's win - to help brother-in-law Bascome reclaim the showpiece he left in Somerset five years earlier - was nothing short of miraculous as he mopped up Somerset's last four bats in the space of 22 runs.

O'Brien finished with outstanding figures of six for 33 off ten overs and Foggo four for 16 off only 5.5 deliveries as Somerset were dismantled in 21.5 overs for one of their lowest innings totals since they were dismissed for 40 runs in 1903.

Top bat for the West Enders was opener Stephen Outerbridge (39), the unlucky recipient of O'Brien's outburst in the 12th over, while Kwame Tucker made 15 and colt Azeem Pitcher 11.