ABBOTSBURY 176 (20pts) beat PUDDLETOWN 101 (7pts) by 76 runs

ABBOTSBURY earned a hard-fought 76-run victory against local rivals Puddletown in a low-scoring contest.

Batting first, Abbotsbury scored 177 with number 10 batsman Krish Subramaniam top scoring with 27 after the top order had made useful contributions.

Steven Chaldecott impressed with the ball for the visitors, taking four wickets.

In reply, Barry Knight scored 31 for Puddletown, however the bowling unit of Abbotsbury proved too much for the away side as they were skittled out for 101 in 33.3 overs.

Puddletown won the toss and skipper Lucas Allen asked Abbotsbury to bat first.

Abbotsbury’s opening batsmen made a casual start as Puddletown bowler Adam Weir found his rhythm early, swinging the ball away to good effect, combined with the extra bounce in the wicket. Weir removed the Swans’ skipper, Simon Pengelly, for just seven before Aaron Oliver (25) and Steve Budd (21) combined for a 54-run partnership.

Both batsmen then fell within the space of two overs as Chaldecott changed the pace and found a good length.

Chaldecott continued to cause the Abbotsbury batsmen problems and took the important wickets of Chas Duerdoth (5) and Pete Lawrence (15) to finish with figures of 4-23.

Strong batting from Kynan Brian (22) and a late flourish from Subramanian (27) took the Abbotsbury total to 177 all out.

In reply, Abbotsbury made the best possible start, as club stalwart Grafton Straker removed the dangerous Allen first ball and followed that up with a wicket two balls later.

He had Chris Ascott caught to leave the away side in trouble.

Despite a 41-run stand between Knight (31) and Weir (26), Puddletown were unable to score freely against the tight Abbotsbury bowling of Straker (3-22), Subramanian (1-17) and Oliver (2-15).

With wickets falling at regular intervals it was left to the tail-end of Puddletown’s batting line-up to salvage the game.

However they did not have a player like Subramaniam, as they folded, losing their last four wickets for just six runs.

Oliver did the damage to help his side to a 76-run victory that helped them keep pace with unbeaten Charlton Down at the top of County Division Four.

Next up for the Swans is a trip to Swanage Seconds on Saturday (1.30pm).