Armory, Devonshire bludgeon Flatts
Devonshire amassed the season's highest total to date -- 315 -- as they beat Flatts by 153 runs at the Rec.
A thunderous unbeaten century by Anthony Amory and half-centuries by Albert Steede and Roger Trott spurred Devonshire on to the mammoth total and then they watched as their opponents struggled in vain to match their batting prowess.
Flatts were made to rue their decision to send Devonshire in to bat, with openers Donald Norford and Roger Trott putting on 49 runs for the first wicket before Norford was out lbw to Maurice Wainwright.
However, Flatts' celebrations were quickly doused with the arrival of Albert Steede to the crease. He and Trott carried the total to 85 when Trott fell victim to Troy Dean after scoring an elegant 56.
Steede and new batsman Amory then took to the bowling, sharing in a 137-run, third-wicket partnership lasting 92 minutes, which contained textbook strokes as well as those of sheer power by skipper Amory, who launched three huge sixes and 13 fours in his 139-minute innings.
Amory continued on with Steede's departure at 222, adding 47 with Lloyd Morrison (26) and 26 with Leon Place (eight), before he and James Pace batted out the final overs.
Woolridge was the only bowling success for Flatts, taking three wickets at a cost of 55 runs.
The visitors were never in the hunt for such a large total and in the end only a ninth-wicket partnership of 56 between James Bean (32 not out) and Floyd Smith (28) made their innings look a little respectable.
From 53 for three, Flatts crumbled to 105 for eight before Bean and Smith embarked on their stand. Of the front-line batsmen only Derek Wright (23) and McDonald Woolridge (11) managed double figures as six Rec. bowlers shared in the wickets.
Nationals 128 Hamilton Parish 132-5 Irving Burgess completed his 50 with the winning four through extra cover as Hamilton Parish had an easy five wicket win over Nationals at Shelly Bay field.
This was Parish's second win in the limited-overs competition following a one-wicket triumph over Willow Cuts in their season opener. This time they had a smaller target to chase after restricting Nationals to just 128 in 41.4 overs upon winning the toss.
Chris Wright, promoted to open the innings with Gary Knight, departed in the 10th over with just 22 runs on the board when Chris Caisey had him caught by Millard Bean for nine. Two overs later Jason Lewis was trapped lbw by spinner Kent Gibbons with the score at 26 for two. Gibbons also got the next wicket to fall, on 44, when he removed Mark Ray.
Wickets continued to fall regularly with Knight offering the only resistance, carrying his bat right through the innings before being last out for a top knock of 59, which lasted two hours and 50 minutes. Captain Darrin Lewis (13) and tail-ender Wilfred Hodson (11) were the only other Nationals bats in double figures as Caisey, Terry Burgess and Gibbons all took two wickets.
Things went so well for Parish that even seldom-used bowlers Millard Bean and Brian Morris, playing against his former team, got chances to bowl and took one wicket each.
After Bean fell to Wright in the fourth over and the other opener Mike Burgess departed in the seventh over, to make the score 12 for two, Parish recovered to post a comfortable win in the end.
Captain Ricky Hill (18) and Dennis Trott (39) moved the score along to 44 before Hill was trapped lbw by Andre Martin in the 12th over. Ashton Outerbridge was fourth out, run out when the score was 52 as Nationals stayed in the game but by the time they took their next wicket in the 34th over on 101 the game was all but wrapped up by Parish.
Opening bowlers Wright and Martin claimed two for 44 and two for 25 respectively.