WINTON 84 (1pt) lost to Dorchester 85-3 (19pts) by seven wickets

DORCHESTER stopped the rot of three straight defeats as they made light work of lowly Winton.

The hosts were skittled for a paltry 84 before the county town side successfully completed the chase inside 17 overs to bring an early end to proceedings.

Stand-in skipper Dan Belt (4-17) and teenager Will Caldwell (39 not out) were the stand-out performers at King George V Playing Field as Dorchester finally got back to winning ways in the Dorset Premier League.

A relieved Belt said: “We have been struggling of late and before the game we said it was one we had to win as these are the types of team we should be beating, especially with games against Parley, Weymouth and Poole still to come.

“We bowled them out for 84 and then knocked the runs off in 16.2 overs.

“They played some strange shots but that was because we put pressure on them. We bowled straight and we got them out.

“I took four wickets in my 10 overs, James Dunham got two and they never got a partnership going, which helped. We have bowled and fielded pretty well most of the season, it’s our batting that has let us down.

“But when you bowl someone out for 84 it does make it easier for the batsmen and it does take the pressure off.

“Will Caldwell scored 39 not out and Sam Goodhew was also unbeaten on 16 to see us home.

“They steadied the ship after we lost three wickets and they showed a bit of experience to bring us over the line.

“Will is only 14 but he has grown, batting-wise, with every game he has played. He is becoming more and more confident and he is enjoying it in the first team.

“I’m sure he will have a really good season next year as he will get a consistent run in the team. It’s good that we have youngsters like him coming through.

“We just need to keep the same team together for the rest of the season as keeping a consistent line-up will only help.”

Meanwhile, regular captain Martyn Richards, who was unavailable at the weekend, has moved to retract his comments from the previous week’s defeat regarding the “unlucky” lbw decisions that dismissed Pete Moxom and Belt.

He said: “I would like to retract the comment and state that we are fortunate to enjoy a high standard of umpiring in the Dorset League.”