Western Stars 244-9 Southampton 222 Western Stars were yesterday crowned Champion of Champions after Gary Brangman's quickfire knock put yesterday's final out of the reach of Rangers.

Stars' 22-run triumph gave them their fourth trophy of the season, with the Premier League, Central Counties, Camel Cup already won.

Batting first, Stars tallied 244 among the cramped confines of Devonshire Rec., with Gary Brangman propping up the order with a rapid-fire 40 not out from just 32 balls at number eight.

However, things did not go all Stars' way, as they stumbled early. Captain Albert Steede continued his poor run, managing just five before being undone by paceman Garry Williams.

At nine for one Stars recovered to reach 50 when Ryan Belboda struck, capturing the wicket of Jermaine Postlethwaite (16) and 13 runs later had opener Treadwell Gibbons (33) making his way back to the dressing room.

Ricky Brangman (26) and Saleem Mukudem (32) steadied the ship with a 47-run partnership.

The departures of Cleon Scotland (13) and Arnold Manders (35) brought Brangman and Hasan Durham to the crease and it was this duo that ultimately destroyed Rangers' chances.

Brangman and Durham kept the scoreboard ticking in rapid fashion, amassing 54 runs from 51 balls. Durham eventually went for 23.

"As far as my performance goes it just comes natural,'' said Brangman, voted man-of-the-match. "I got in, had a few overs to bat and just stuck in there, hit the bad balls, played the good balls and in the end it worked out for me.'' Belboda led with figures of three for 39, while Williams finished two for 55.

Southampton's chase got off to an auspicious start, as Keith Wainwright opened by belting Mukudem's first delivery through the covers for four.

But Dexter Smith (one) went at 13, attempting to slash at a Gary Brangman away-swinger only to get an edge and be caught on the second attempt by Ricky Brangman at second slip.

Wainwright followed for 17 with the score 22, but Olin Jones (29) found an able partner in Kwame Tucker (24), the pair putting on 43, followed by a 44-run partnership between Jones and skipper Janeiro Tucker.

Clarkie Trott joined Clevie Wade in the middle and proceeded to launch a fireworks display. Trott bashed five sixes in his 17 ball knock of 32, but went to the well once too often, top-edging an attempted drive to Gibbons fielding at backward point.

It was then left for Wade to soldier on, and in his typically gritty fashion he did. But with overs and partners running short he was forced to throw caution to the wind.

After lashing two mammoth sixes over mid-wicket off Arnold Manders to draw Rangers within sight of an improbable win, Wade tried his hand again and holed out to Justin Robinson.

"Basically, from a batting point of view, we didn't get off to a good start like the day before, which put pressure on the middle order and a couple of wickets fell in the middle order when I thought guys could have held on a little longer,'' said a sombre Wade in the losers' dressing room, "but that's cricket and we have to learn from it and go on.'' Nevertheless, the question now remains: Can anyone halt Stars charge towards a clean sweep of the five competitions? Brangman, for one, thought not. "I don't think so, not now,'' he said, a huge grin of confidence masking his face. "If we keep playing up to our standard I don't think it'll happen this season.

Hitting out: Western Stars batsman Saleem Mukudem hammers more runs during his innings of 32 in his side's win at Devonshire Rec.