Triangle Championship Hopes Wilt as Suttoners Prove Much too Strong

The home side had early success as Jan Davey bowled opener Martin in the first over of his best spell of bowling this season. The left armer went on to record excellent figures of 4-16 in his 12 overs, but received little support from other members of the home attack. Special mention must go to captain John Ryan who took the vital wickets of opener Fitzjohn (53) and then Rawlings (42) in a less than impressive spell of 2-101 off his12 overs.

Andy Fitzjohn (53) and Neil Corbin (39) crafted a second wicket partnership of 97 to rectify matters for the visitors, before the reintroduction of Davey swung the game back in the islander's favour as Suttoners were reduced to 139-6 after 31 overs. However Chris Rawlings' innings of 42 helped to push the score along to 193 in the 38th over, before an explosive knock of 66 from Dave Barber put Suttoners in the driving seat. Barber hit seven fours and three sixes as the visitors plundered 63 runs from the last five overs and they closed on 269-7.

In reply, Triangle lost wickets at regular intervals, as Paul Barber (3-31) accounted for the top order to leave the islanders struggling on 81-5 after 20 overs. Gary Randell (54) and Will Curtis (20) put a temporary stop to the rot with a sixth wicket partnership of 60, but left arm spinner Paul Harding grabbed four late wickets as Triangle were dismissed for 192 in the 40th over.

Skipper John Ryan offered no excuses for his team's performance, "We were beaten by a better side on the day," he said. "They are certainly the best side we have played this year and I was impressed by their depth of batting and variety of bowling. We didn't help ourselves with some wayward bowling. Batting was always going to be difficult facing such a large total."