BRIDPORT 56 (1pt) lost to Martinstown 57-3 (19pts) by seven wickets THE batting curse that has lingered over struggling Bridport throughout the campaign returned with a vengeance at Brewery Field as second-placed Martins-town hammered the final nail in their coffin in Dorset League Division Three.

Following knocks of 313-7 and 219-7 in their previous two encounters it appeared the West Dorset outfit’s form with the willow had turned but in this latest demise their ongoing tendency to suffer a catastrophic collapse now and again came back to haunt them.

Batting first, the hosts got off to an encouraging start with Liam Toohill (26) and skipper Mark Smith (6) sharing an opening stand of 30. But when the latter fell to the impressive Danny Dancer (5-4 off five overs) the rot instantly set in with the next nine wickets falling for just 26 runs.

Matt Camp (5-17 off seven overs) was the other bowler that profited from Bridport’s suspect batting as Martinstown took just 19 overs to skittle their opponents to set up what looked like a comfortable run chase.

However, the high-flying visitors also had their problems with Ashley Nicholls (3-16 off eight overs) snaring a double-wicket maiden in the first over, which saw Ed Nichols (0) and Stuart Fry (0) both return to the pavilion with ducks.

Henry Lewis (6 not out) and Sam Kershaw (15) then steadied the ship before man-of-the-match Dancer came in and led his team across the line with a confident knock of 26 not out.

A disappointed Smith, who is due to step down as Bridport captain after Saturday’s clash at Cerne Valley, said: “After a good couple of weeks with the bat we returned to poor batting again.

“Following overnight rain, it was not the toss to lose and after a reasonable start from Liam in an opening partnership of 30, it all went drastically wrong from there. Wickets tumbled to some good bowling but there were also some suspect shots.

“The bowler-friendly wicket then showed its massive potential again when Ashley Nicholls took 2-0 in the first over of their reply to make the Martinstown batsmen a little nervy, but in the end our total was easily 90 runs short.”

Smith, whose side are now second-bottom and three average points adrift of safety with just two games left, went on to add: “At the end of the day, poor batting displays is the reason why we are heading for Division Four.

“The previous two weeks we proved we are more than capable of playing at this level and all I hope is that the guys have learned some lessons and will come back next year determined to show their true abilities.

“We now have two games left and I would like us to firstly enjoy them and also produce the type of performances I know we are capable of.

“This coming Saturday at Cerne Valley will be my last game of the season and my last as captain, and I would like to thank the lads for an enjoyable campaign despite the obvious frustrations for us all.”