THE South Wilts band wagon marches on – and into the last 16 of the ECB Kingfisher Cup national club championship after a 37-run victory over top Welsh side Sully Centurions at Bemerton on Sunday.

They produced a stunning display to defend a modest 156-8 and bowl the South Wales club out for 119, writes Mike Vimpany.

The rewards are good too – a home tie in the next round on Sunday, July 8, against either West of England Premier League leaders Bridgwater or Bovey Tracey, from South Devon, whose south-west zone final was abandoned after heavy rain but will be replayed on Sunday.

Skipper Tom Morton, whose half-century underpinned the South Wilts total, said he was confident his side could protect what was a deceptive tea-time score against Sully Centurions.

“I thought 156-8 was a par score on a surface which wasn’t that easy to force the pace on, but given we defended a similar total against Bath in the last round, I was pretty confident we could do it again,” he said.

“You had to work for your runs on the track, but the demise of a lot of the Sully players was down to trying to play big shots, which wasn’t the way to do it.

“We knew they had some quality batsmen, but we’ve been top drawer in the field all season and backed up some excellent bowling with good catching and fielding.”

Morton's 58 at the top of the South Wilts order was to prove decisive, although losing three wickets in quick succession before the total reached treble figures threatened the derail the excellent start the Salisbury club made. Morton and Eddie Abel were going nicely, until the little left-hander holed out.

South Wilts never really regained the momentum after slipping from a solid 94-1 at the half-way point of their innings, but teenager Jack Mynott's 32 not out went a long way to ensuring that South Wilts posted 156-8 in their 45 overs.

Left-arm spinner James Evison (4-25) proved particularly effective for the Welsh visitors.

South Wilts needed early wickets if they were to win -and got four of them as Sully went for an over-expansive start.

James Hibberd (3-23), operating at his favoured pavilion end, bowled superbly well in tandem with James Haggaty’s left-arm seam, while two excellent slip catches by Eddie Abel gave South Wilts a marked edge in the field.

The prize scalp was that of Lloyd Smith, who smashed a Twenty20 century against Glamorgan in midweek.

He too went for his shots, but was superbly caught by James Hayward’s running backwards at cover.

Three times South Wales Premier League champions in recent seasons, Sully were strangled by change duo Rob Franklin (1-11 off seven overs) and Jack Sheppard (0-12 off seven).

They were struggling to score in excess of one run an over for a long while and, in fact, managed only 35 runs between the sixth and the 28th over.

Fifth wicket pair David Rowe (26) and Jamie Sylvester (31) took Sully on to 90, but by then they had eaten up 37 of their 45 overs – and were well behind the required run rate.

When the crash came, it was too late and South Wilts took more wickets at vital times – Hayward taking another catch in the deep, besides being involved in two run-outs.

South Wilts’ out-cricket was top class, with Haggaty returning for a second spell and finishing with a creditable 3-12 return.

*South Wilts were 19-2 off just three overs – all the runs being scored by master blaster Glenn Maxwell – when rain caused the abandonment of their ECB Southern Electric Premier League clash with Lymington at Bemerton on Saturday.

Tom Morton was caught off the first ball of Simon Beetham’s second over and Maxwell was bowled by Ed Freeman.

Lymington’s 149 all out was largely based around Glen Treagus (33) and Ali Jaffer (36), who eased the score to 82-1.

Lymington then collapsed against off-spin pair Maxwell (5-41) and Rob Franklin (4-42), with only Damien Edwards (28) making an impact as the middle-order fell away.