KINGSTON LACY 85 (1pt) lost to BRIDPORT 87-2 (19pts) by 8 wickets

BRIDPORT’S bowling attack ripped through Kingston Lacy in devastating fashion to continue their side’s impressive start to the season in Dorset League Division Four.

Alex Lee (4-14), Dominic Gape (3-25) and Rod Gay (2-11) were merciless as they helped skittle the home side for just 85 in 26.3 overs.

Gape then joined skipper Liam Toohill to complete the job in an unbeaten third-wicket stand of 76 after Mark Smith and Rod Gay had both fallen early in reply.

The victory has moved the West Dorset outfit up to second place in the table and Toohill is keen for the momentum to continue.

Reflecting on the game, he said: “I finally won my first toss of the year and I chose to bowl on a wicket that had a lot of grass on it.

“We started well with Dom picking up the first two wickets in consecutive balls with the score on 16.

“Alex also went on to take two wickets in two balls but neither of them could quite get a hat-trick. However, they did manage to pick up seven wickets between them from their opening spells which got us off to a great start.

“Robin Jones and I then struggled a bit with our lines, so I brought on our second change bowlers and we eventually got them for 85.

“We were obviously confident of chasing that total down, knowing all we had to do was just take our time and play ourselves in.

“Unfortunately Mark and Rod both fell early though, leaving us looking a bit vulnerable on 11-2.

“However, Dom then joined myself at the crease and we set about chasing down their total.

“We picked the gaps in the field and ran well to edge closer to our target, before Dom finished the game by going 6-2-4-6 to take us to an eight-wicket victory.”

Despite winning the game though, Toohill was not completely satisfied. He added: “Although it was another good win, there are still areas we need to improve upon before we play top-of-the-league Wareham next Saturday.

“We bowled 37 extras and that is something we need to work on because we can’t afford to help the opposition out like that every week.

“We also need to improve our fielding because we let a lot of runs go in dropped catches and mis-fields.

“This was a great haul of points for us but dropping one point for losing one too many wickets was rather frustrating.”