WEYMOUTH 146 (17pts) beat BLANDFORD 111 (6pts) by 35 runs

WEYMOUTH fought off the challenge of 10-man Blandford with a valuable 35-run victory over their County Division Two opponents at Redlands.

The Seasiders let slip a position of 101-2 to be dismissed for 146, aided by 51 extras, but the hosts’ bowling again dug them out of trouble as a depleted Blandford were skittled for 111.

After losing Paul Collins and Lloyd Beals (both 2) early on, Simon Browne (36) and Neil Walton (28) shared an 85-run stand for the third wicket, the duo taking Weymouth’s second 50 in just 47 balls.

Both men were accounted for by Kevin Abbott (4-47), Walton having been dropped four times, before Blandford removed Army-bound ex-Weymouth footballer Calvin Brooks and Brian Keane for ducks.

That mini-collapse was arrested by a 32-run partnership between Tom England (13) and Harry Mitchell (12) before Luke Haines (3-1) shattered the Weymouth tail as the home side lost eight wickets for 45 runs.

In reply, Tim Margetson (23) led the charge against the Seasiders’ attack, but Beals (1-26) and Walton (3-21) worked around the opener, dismissing Lee Veringa (2) and Ryan White (6) respectively to make inroads at 30-2.

Jamie Mitchell (29) batted well against crafty spin from skipper Harry Mitchell (1-15) and Shafeek Urumancheri (2-37), but once the latter bowled Margetson Blandford went into freefall.

Mitchell, Urumancheri and Walton shared the remaining middle-order wickets before Jack Taylor (2-10) impressively wrapped up the victory, which moved Weymouth into third place.

Speaking to Echosport after the game, a delighted Mitchell said: “It was a great comeback, I thought the spinners bowled well. It’s the best I’ve bowled (this season) and whenever I need a wicket I know I can turn to Shaf.

“The openers bowled exceptionally, Lloyd had that cutting edge and Neil bowled really well. Jack coming on at the end with loads of pressure on him provided the goods. It was a great bowling effort.”

But the Weymouth captain was dismayed at his side’s batting, adding: “For the second week running to rebuild from around 20-2 was positive. We went up the gears nicely, just as I wanted.

“It was just a shame that everyone else couldn’t capitalise on the great start. The job of the top four is to build a total and then five, six, seven, eight to make a total.

“It was a bit disappointing that nobody kicked on. It should have been me and Tommy, really.”

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