PORTLAND 292-5 (20pts) beat SHILLINGSTONE 135 (4pts) by 157 runs

PORTLAND Red Triangle romped to their first win of the County Division One campaign with a massive 157-run victory against rock-bottom Shillingstone at Reforne.

Matt Randell delivered a match-winning captain’s performance for the islanders, ploughing a rapid unbeaten 123 after Portland’s top order built a solid foundation early on.

Overseas all-rounder Kyle Sloane then ripped through the away line-up to claim 4-38 as the visitors were dismissed for 135.

Shillingstone’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss looked reasonable after breaking down an opening 59-run partnership between Ray Emery (13) and Callan Laws (34), the latter bowled by Jerry Shaw (1-34).

The away side made further progress when Emery was caught off Bob Edwards (1-44), before the economical Michael Angell (1-20) dismissed the dangerous Simon Proffitt (30) after Tom House (2-41) had bowled Ryan Price (6).

At 115-4, Portland were simmering to a decent total until Randell blasted his century, which included 14 fours and eight sixes.

Ollie Whisker (31) shared in a 160-run stand with the skipper as they set Shillingstone a daunting 293 to win.

In reply, Portland encountered Robin Cunningham (58) in good form, but Sloane worked around the opener, dismissing Steve Savage, Ian Paulley and Angell for ducks as Shill slumped to 63-5.

Randell (2-9) then chipped in by also removing Edwards and Harry Paulley for ducks before Cunningham was finally ousted by Simon Barrett (1-0) to end the visitors’ misery.

A delighted Randell told Echosport: “We gave ourselves a bit of a chance with the bat and set ourselves a platform.

“I speak a lot about (our players) playing positive cricket and this time I said how we can take a positive approach with running between the wickets, rather than just scoring boundaries. It worked out perfectly.

“After the game a lot of people were relieved we managed to get that first win and I think have a little bit more belief that we can finish mid-table and we’re not going to be in that relegation battle come the end of the season.

“It was nice to contribute. I’ve been saying over the last couple of weeks that our more experienced players need to stand up.

“Si (Proffitt) took five wickets last week and I scored a hundred this week. The boys set the innings up perfectly for me to come in at six and play positive shots, it was ideal.”