DORCHESTER 240-7 (19pts) beat BROADSTONE 238-9 (8pts) by three wickets

A WONDERFUL unbeaten century from Dan Belt and two outrageous Dilscoops from Nick Roe guided Dorchester to a three-wicket win over Broadstone with just two balls to spare at the Delph.

After bowling first, the county town side were handed the tough task of chasing down 238 in muggy conditions.

But, thanks to a fantastic knock of 145 from Belt, they were able to squeeze home.

Earlier in the day, James Dunham took 2-30 from his nine overs to carry on his great start to the season.

Captain Simon Mitchem won the toss and decided to bowl first as he looked to exploit the atmospheric conditions at Broadstone’s ground.

However, once his opening pace men – Dunham and David Trotter (0-30) – had bowled through, the visitors struggled to contain the home side as they racked up the runs, mainly due to a short boundary that many of the batsman were able to exploit.

Also in the wickets for Dorchester were Josh Richardson (3-39) and James Caldwell

The away side were in confident mood as they set about chasing down the total and Roe led from the front.

He batted imperiously, finding the boundary regularly. He was ably assisted by Dan Morris who scored 34 unbeaten runs, who helped keep the run-rate at a manageable level.

But as the game entered the final exchanges, Dorchester kept their cool and through the bat of Roe, who struck two boundaries that any international cricketer would be proud of, they were able to seal the win.

At times, the players on the sidelines were twitchy, but, as Mitchem told Echosport, the result never felt in doubt.

He said: “It was a game that kept swinging momentum from one side to another so it was really important to keep focused and keep grafting.

“It was probably 40 more than we wanted to chase but Dan batted superbly.

“We kept scoring runs and kept there or thereabouts with the run-rate. Like I said last week, there is a real desire and motivation to win games of cricket.

“There was a real level of maturity.

“We held together, we didn’t panic and we got over the line.

“It’s the sort of game we were losing last season so it’s great to show that we have stepped up as a team.”