WEYMOUTH 344-7 (20pts) beat CRANBORNE 94 (3pts) by 250 runs

WEYMOUTH hammered eight-man Cranborne by a gigantic 250-run margin at Redlands to earn their fifth consecutive County Division Two win.

Cranborne, who have twice scratched this season, had no choice but to honour the fixture, else risking their fate with a committee meeting, at which a possible expulsion from the league could have been imposed.

As it was, the Cranes battled well in spite of their depleted numbers, ousting openers John Wilson (0) and Neil Walton (15) via Phil Park (1-16) and Marc Harris (2-32) respectively, the latter utilising sharp inswing and seam.

Dom Webb (39) also chipped in before succumbing leg before to Tom Pickering (1-62), but from there onwards the Seasiders unleashed carnage on the visitors.

Jonny Armfield (131) and Simon Browne (96) put on a whopping 213 runs for the fourth wicket, Armfield’s classy knock coming off just 65 balls and including 24 boundaries as Cranborne understandably wilted, conceding 344 from 45 overs.

In reply, the Cranes’ attacking intent was evident from the off, but Graham Puckett (1-36) bowled Harris (0) after a horrible swipe.

Lloyd Beals (4-26) then brilliantly ripped through the Cranborne line-up, taking three wickets in an over, to reduce them to 37-5.

Dorset Over-50s all-rounder Park (44no) blunted the Weymouth attack with nine fours, but was powerless to prevent Shafeek Urumancheri (1-12) and Sami Rathnayake (1-13) quickly wrapping up a maximum-point victory.

Speaking to Echosport after the near-farcical encounter, Seasiders’ skipper Harry Mitchell singled out his star performers for praise.

He said: “Browner’s mammoth partnership with Jonny was outstanding, it’s the best I’ve seen this season. They were almost playing against each other to try and get the biggest score, which was great to watch.

“Jonny’s knock was pretty spectacular, scoring at that strike rate, coming in at five, not having a net this year, it speaks volumes of the lad – it’s quite brilliant.

“Having two (batsmen) go early, for Browner to then build with Jonny and Dom on any other day would have been a match-winning knock.”

Mitchell added: “With Lloyd, he’s a confidence bowler and each week he gets better. He’s bringing more variation and has more to his armoury.

“He’s bowling with pace, adding the accuracy to go with it and starting to come along nicely as a bowler now.”

Weymouth remain in third place, with three points separating them from leaders Wimborne & Colehill Seconds, while Marnhull lie in second, one point above Mitchell’s men.

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