BLANDFORD 165-8 (6pts) lost to Dorchester 166-6 (19pts) by four wickets

JAMES Lewis and Sam Goodhew were the stars of the show for Dorchester on Saturday as they finally opened their campaign with a four-wicket success at Blandford.

The talented duo picked up five wickets and scored 61 runs between them as the county town outfit made light of the damp conditions in their first outing of the season.

Blandford took to the crease first in this Dorset Premier League encounter and got off to a fine start with Mike Shepherd (17) and Dan Brockway (44) putting on 53 for the opening wicket.

Lewis then clean bowled Shepherd and the incoming Lewis Mutton (6) before Alex White (38) joined Brockway in another valuable stand to move the hosts into three figures.

However, when Brockway holed out to Rob Waite off a ball from Goodhew (2-35), Dorchester really began to get on top.

Nichols fell for a duck and although a couple others put up some resistance, the scoring rate completely tailed off in the closing 10 overs, leaving the county town outfit with 165 to chase.

On a damp surface that could have still proved a tricky target and when Waite (2) fell to the impressive Kev Robbins (3-43) for just two, there appeared to be a glimmer of a light for the hosts.

However, Lewis, Ian Sibley (15), Dan Belt (26) and Goodhew (36) all steadied the ship before Quenton Miller (15 not out) saw the visitors home with four wickets and 13.2 overs to spare.

Belt, who stood in as skipper for the injured Martyn Richards, said: “We had a young team out but we played mature cricket.

“Considering the weather we have had the wicket was not too bad at all and a lot of credit needs to go to their groundsman for that because the previous night it was still waterlogged.

“We won the toss and bowled, thinking we would get quite a bit out of it, but it was just very slow and the ball kept a bit low so it didn’t actually help that much.

“What we did though was put plenty of pressure on them and that is how we got most of our wickets.

“They never once looked like getting away from us in their 50 overs and the fact we restricted them to just 30 runs from their last 10, even though they still had wickets in hand, was a great effort from everyone.

“After that we just had to bat sensibly and that is exactly what we did.

“Everyone contributed and it was great to see James, Sam and Lewis Chutter all impress on debut.

“James and Sam both bowled great spells and batted superbly, while Lewis came in and helped knock off the winning runs alongside Quenton.

“Considering it was our first game, I was delighted with the overall performance and it should now give us a lot of confidence going into the weeks ahead.”

Next up for Dorchester is a home clash against Ferndown Wayfarers on Saturday.