SHERBORNE 179 (4pts) lost to DORCHESTER 181-2 (20pts) by 8 wickets

DORCHESTER claimed a morale-boosting 20-point win at the Terrace to end a two-match losing streak in the Dorset Funeral Plan Premier Division.

The home side won the toss and elected to bat but Dorchester were more than equal to it, with captain James Dunham taking a superb six-wicket haul.

Kuhn was the first of the Sherborne batsmen to go as Dunham raced through their opening five batsmen, departing with the home side on 19 runs.

Without blinking Sherborne were immediately down another wicket without scoring another run, as Roe caught Parfitt from a Dunham ball.

Sherborne then began to add to their total further but could not get beyond 37 before Dorchester struck again, with Carter being trapped lbw by Dunham.

Good things were coming to Dorchester in pairs as they again immediately struck, with Dunham trapping Baker lbw with Sherborne stunned.

They managed to up their score to 52-4 before another duo departed before Sherborne could add to their score.

Despite this, their latter order, in particular Harris who struck 65, helped the home side get to a respectable 179 all out.

After the break, Dorchester initially had a tough start, as Quentin Miller was dismissed with just 18 runs on the board. However, the partnership of Dan Morris and Simon Mitchem put on a 92-run partnership before the former was caught by Harris.

Eral Anderson then came on and his 71-run partnership with Mitchem saw them through to a fantastic victory against Sherborne.

After the match, Dunham said: “We were very good, we lost the toss and got put into the field on a hot day.

“We had 50-7 at one point and then 87-8 so we were always on top but their lower-middle order contributed and got them to a respectable 180.

“At halfway we thought that was 30 or 40 runs short and I do not think we ever looked like not taking that down, our batsmen played very well this week.

“We started off with Quentin and Dan Morris had the call up from the second team this week with the good responsibility of opening the batting which he grasped. He looked very good this week which was awesome to see.

“We keep saying about depth but for a player to come up and bat like that was awesome. Simon Mitchem again 70-odd not out played the anchoring role and he played good this week.”

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