Captain Dion Stovell scored 43 and then claimed seven wickets for 23 runs as Southampton Rangers welcomed back 50-overs cricket with a convincing victory at Southampton Oval yesterday.

Premier Division sides have not played 50 overs since May 26, with Cleveland toiling in the sun for 47.5 overs as Rangers posted 242. They dismissed Cleveland for 155, although Rangers took more sun than they had expected after they struggled to close out the game when having Cleveland in deep trouble at 47 for seven after just 14.1 overs.

That is when a dogged eighth-wicket stand of 97 between Kioshi Trott and Makai Young delayed the inevitable, with frustration starting to show for Rangers who tried everything to break up the partnership, which lasted 28 overs.

Stovell got the breakthrough, bowling Trott and Young in the space of three balls in his tenth and over before Janiero Tucker removed Tybrae Robinson two overs later to seal the win.

Trott led the Cleveland batting with 53 from 108 balls, hitting eight fours and a six, while Young was out for 48 after facing 88 balls and hitting five fours.

Only two other Cleveland batsmen reached double figures, Jabari Darrell with 13 and Mackih McGowan with 11.

Stovell, sharing the new ball with Tucker, claimed five of the first six wickets to fall as Cleveland were reeling at 29 for six by the ninth over. Tucker finished with two for 26 from 8.2 overs. Earlier, Malachi Jones led the Rangers batting with 60 from 54 balls in the middle order, hitting five sixes and three fours.

Stovell hit eight fours for his 43 at No 3, while Deunte Darrell (27), Ricardo Brangman (23) and tailender Charles Trott (20) also made useful contributions.

Dennis Musson claimed four wickets for 31 runs to lead the Cleveland bowling, while Dean Stephens took three for 22.