OPENER Sam Collins recorded his maiden Minor Counties century for Dorset on day two of their Championship clash with Herefordshire at Colwall.

The Parley batsman brought up his ton during the afternoon session, as the away side grabbed a first-innings lead of 31 in the Western Division contest and put themselves will in control of the three-day clash as a whole on day two.

Collins was eventually dismissed having been bowled by Barney Morgan for 129 after 87.2 overs in the middle.

His stay at the crease lasted five hours and eight minutes, with a whopping 280 deliveries faced in total.

Resuming on day two with Chris Park (83), Collins and the Dorset skipper put on a mammoth stand of 158 for the fourth wicket before the away side looked to accelerate their scoring rate late in their innings.

With Alex Eckland (22), Jigar Naik (13no) and Mark Wolstenholme (12no) all chipping in, the visitors closed on 293-6 from their allotted 90 overs, in reply to Herefordshire’s 262 all out first time round.

And Dorset put themselves well in the box seat at the close, reducing the home team to 117-8 in their second innings with a slender Herefordshire lead of 86 going into the final day.

Naik, who picked up five wickets first time round, was once again the most effective for the visitors, claiming 6-44 at present.