BEAMINSTER 118 (4pts) lost to WEYMOUTH 119-7 (18pts) by three wickets

WEYMOUTH held on to earn their second consecutive away victory in County Division Two, beating Beaminster by three wickets in a low-scoring clash at the Memorial Ground.

After losing the toss on a scorching day, Weymouth were asked to bowl but Neil Walton (2-18) struck twice when trapping home skipper Ross Baker (1) lbw before Dave Blackman snaffled a brilliant catch down the leg side to dismiss Lewis Keenan (0).

Fellow opener Lloyd Beals (1-21) then removed Daniel Spiller (4) leg before as Beaminster wobbled at 34-3.

Simon Jones (45) timed the ball beautifully in a relatively untroubled knock but saw new batsmen Ollie Bareham (6) and Justin Gurd (1) ousted by Sami Rathnayake (2-35) as the hosts reached 67-5.

Dave Persey (20) combined well with Jones until sharp turn from off-spinner Harry Mitchell (3-15) caused the latter to glove a simple chance to Blackman.

The Seasiders had little strife in polishing off the Beaminster tail as leg-spinner Shafeek Urumancheri (2-12) and Mitchell helped bowl the home side out for 118.

Beginning their innings before tea, Weymouth’s reply looked solid as John Wilson and Walton (9) cruised to 26-0 off five overs until Jones (1-23) had the latter given out lbw.

At tea, Weymouth were 51-1 but Beaminster soon rocked their opponents as Baker (3-11) turned the game on its head.

Bowling with threatening accuracy, Baker accounted for Dom (6) and Paul Webb (3) while Persey (2-33) ousted Simon Browne (0) as Weymouth stumbled to 65-4.

Weymouth’s position worsened to 69-6 when Wilson, who had surged to 45 with nine fours and a six, misjudged a full-toss from Persey, before Jack Sapsworth (0) edged Baker to first slip.

Still requiring 50 runs, Seasiders’ captain Mitchell (28no) batted determinedly with Blackman (15), on his return from a shoulder injury, to stifle Beaminster’s momentum until the latter spooned a catch off Francis Medley (1-28).

However, Mitchell was unshaken and guided his side to a triumph that moves them 11 points off leaders Witchampton after their tied match with Wimborne & Colehill Seconds.

Speaking to Echosport, Mitchell felt the Weymouth bowlers had “set the tone” for their success.

He said: “It was a really good win. The bowlers set it up nicely, especially the opening bowlers.

“It was the first time this season we’ve taken two early wickets to really get on top and take their star batsmen out.

“They set the tone for the whole game and Lloyd bowled the best he’s bowled all season with decent pace and was a lot more accurate.

“Sappy came on and bowled nice and tight, Sami got a couple of decent wickets and again I thought the spinners turned the screw. Everyone stood up with the ball, which was perfect.”

Mitchell applauded Wilson for his innings, but was concerned by another middle-order collapse.

He said: “It was a great start again and John batted exceptionally, really clean hitting.

“But to let the game slip, we were a bit negative and could have been more aggressive. Maybe the situation made us play like that.”

On his own performance, Mitchell added: “Getting over the line was the most important thing.

“It was nice to score some runs for a change – I haven’t scored many since the first game. I wasn’t going to get out.

“As soon as me and Dave nullified the threat I said to Lloyd we’ll score the runs as soon as possible, we played our natural game.”

Weymouth next face Kingston Lacy at Redlands on Saturday (1.30pm) as the second half of the season begins.

Meanwhile, Weymouth Seconds 157 (8pts) lost to Martinstown Seconds 214-9 (20pts) by 57 runs