Willow Cuts 247-7

St.George's 212

In the space of two days St. George's' league title hopes all but disappeared amid two crucial losses on the weekend.

First, St. David's thrashed their neighbours by ten wickets in a low-scoring affair on Saturday and then St. George's suffered a stunning upset at the hands of an impressive Willow Cuts yesterday. These successive defeats have narrowed their chances of wresting the Premier League crown considerably as frontrunners Southampton Rangers stretched their lead at the top of the standings.

In yesterday's match, Cuts rallied to a challenging 247 for seven on the back of an unbeaten century by Reggie Tucker Jr. The diminutive batsman stood tall with 129 not out in two hours, 23 minutes at Somerset Cricket Club to lead his team's innings.

His 111-ball knock included a whopping 15 fours and three sixes. He reached his 50 in 80 minutes off 58 deliveries and then moved to 100 in exactly two hours from 95 balls. That he was dropped twice would have hurt St. George's even more as they rued those missed opportunities.

Dexter Basden and Cordell Gilbert also propelled Cuts' innings with scores of 32 and 30 respectively. Both men struck five fours and Basden also counted a six among his runs. Gregg Foggo and Travis Smith took two for 46 off ten overs and two for 29 off five overs respectively for St. George's.

Despite a determined maiden half-century by teenage opener Oronde Bascome, St. George's fell short of their target by 36 runs. They were dismissed for 212 in 44.3 overs.

Bascome, who like Tucker had two lives, smashed six fours as he raised 50 in 68 balls at the crease. He and Eugene Foggo put on 67 runs for the first wicket before the latter was caught and bowled by Kevin Fubler for 28. Bascome - a member of Bermuda's Under-19 World Cup team - then had a 43-run stand with Sinclair Gibbons.

However, though there were some promising starts by other batsmen, St. George's continually lost wickets in their victory charge. Trevor Corday, Richard Basden and Fubler each grabbed two wickets as Cuts celebrated just their second win this season.

St.George's 71

St.David's 73-0

Meanwhile, Lord's was a scene of great carnage on Saturday as St. David's demolished St. George's.

The Islanders dismissed their previously high-flying opponents for a mere 71 runs and then polished the job off without breaking a sweat or losing a wicket.

What's more they had 41.4 overs to spare. That's right, St. David's achieved their target in a lightning 8.2 overs.

After opening bowling pair Mackie Crane and Loren Marshall made the early breakthrough to have St.George's on the run, Stefan Kelly wasted little time carrying on where they left off.

Kelly finished with remarkable figures of five wickets for 25 off 6.3 overs including one maiden as he ripped through St.George's' middle and lower order to celebrate his return to local cricket in style. The youngster is currently enrolled at Oakham School in Leicestershire, England.

St.George's were dismissed in 25.3 overs, by far their lowest total of the season. Troy Hall topped scored for St.George's with 12 while tailender Kameron Fox (11) was the only other batsman to manage double figures. It should also be noted that 22 of St.George's' runs came via the extras column.

Marshall, meanwhile, grabbed three wickets for 18 runs off six overs while Crane finished with figures of two for 21 from seven overs.

In reply to their opponents' meagre total, St. David's raced to victory with the elegant Glenn Blakeney leading the way with a whirlwind unbeaten knock of 60.

Blakeney cracked ten fours and two sixes and brought up his half-century in only 32 minutes off 30 balls.

Teenager Fiqre Crockwell also remained unbeaten at the other end on six as the Islanders made amends for a controversial early-season loss to their tenants.

St.George's used three bowlers in a desperate bid to dislodge the Islanders' opening pair but to no avail. Herbie Bascome, Gregg Foggo and Travis Smith all went wicketless.