STAND-in skipper Steve Bates (pictured) was a happy man after seeing his impressive Shipton-under-Wychwood side easily beat Troon to book their place against Rowledge in the semi-finals of the npower Village Cup.

Bates, who was captain for the day with regular leader Paul Hemming away on holiday, pointed to his side’s powerful batting line-up as key to their comfortable 56-run success.

But he also had words of praise for young seamer Tom King, who took the first three wickets in Troon’s reply.

Bates said: “Troon bowled very well to start with, but Andy (Hemming) and Charlie (Brain) saw off their openers quite well.

“We got to about 80 from 20 overs, which is obviously a great platform when you have the likes of myself and Jason (Hunt) to come.

“We’ve batted first in all the national rounds, and so far we’ve fired every time, which obviously puts us in a great position.

“Then when Troon batted, Tom bowled really well and that put the pressure on straight away.

“When you take a couple of early wickets with such a big score, the pressure builds.

“With no fielding restrictions, we were able to defend the boundaries early.

“We bowled well and in the main we fielded well too.

“When the spinners came on, Troon needed more then ten an over, and by then we were always in control of the game.”