HAMWORTHY RECREATION 241 (20pts) beat WEYMOUTH 145 (7pts) by 96 runs

WEYMOUTH were soundly beaten by Hamworthy Recreation as the hosts took a deserved 96-run win in their County Division One fixture at the Hamworthy Club.

Several dropped catches hurt the visitors, who had managed to restrict Hamworthy to 72-3 at drinks, as eight home batsman reached 20 or above.

A further 169 runs were added in the remaining 23 overs as Weymouth toiled in the field.

In reply, only stand-in skipper Dean Janaway (14), Kieron Womble (28), Paul Collins (26) and Cube Whyte (26no) reached double figures as Weymouth were dismissed for 145.

Hamworthy won the toss and elected to bat on a surface that was dry on top and damp underneath but lost Martin Wood (0) early to Graham Puckett (1-36).

Sami Rathnayake (0-6) had to stop bowling with a hamstring injury while Tim Martin (30) and Pete Hoar (33) played aggressively in a 55 stand, which was ended when Neil Walton (3-42) trapped Martin leg before and clean bowled Hoar.

Cube Whyte (2-28) had Harry Poole (24) and Sam Stroud (21) caught at mid-wicket but Matt Avery and Sean Mulley (both 32) led the charge for the hosts as the second half of the innings cost almost eight-an-over, with spinners Harry Mitchell (2-55) and John Ryan (2-71) proving expensive.

Weymouth lost Walton (1) in the second over of their reply to Matt Avery (1-28), while Janaway and Dom Webb followed soon afterwards to leave Weymouth struggling on 39-3.

Womble and Collins rebuilt steadily for Janaway’s side but wickets fell regularly as Julian Lockett (3-36) rolled the middle order over. Whyte hit a quick 26 but it wasn’t enough as Weymouth fell to a heavy defeat.

Speaking to Echosport after the game, Janaway said missed opportunities “killed” his side.

“We ended up creating 18 or so chances for our 10 wickets – that killed us. They’re a very attacking side and all of them went for it from the off. It was a bit of a struggle in the field.

“We were a little light on batting so 240 was always going to be a tough chase but on a good pitch and good ground there’s always a chance. But we lost a couple of early wickets, got bogged down in the middle and we were never really in it.

“It was very disappointing and everyone’s pretty down but we’ll go again next week,” he said.

Janaway will again captain the side in Simon Browne’s absence when the Seasiders take on Cattistock at Redlands on Saturday.

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