PORTLAND RED TRIANGLE 238-6 (20pts) beat CERNE VALLEY 151 (6pts) by 87 runs

PORTLAND Red Triangle secured their place in County Division One next year with an 87-run win over Cerne Valley at home.

Portland won the toss and chose to bat, which paid immediate dividends as the opening partnership of Ray Emery and Pete Jarvis hit 103 runs.

Jarvis was then caught by David Baney from a Jamie Barrett delivery but Emery carried on with Callan Laws to push the score up to 131 before he was bowled by Mike Collinge.

Chris Leake was stumped shortly after by Jim Ryall before Matt Randell was caught by Will Simpson as Portland briefly began to drop regular wickets, with the score now on 153-5.

However, the partnership of Simon Proffitt and Laws helped Portland soar above the 200-mark to 231.

Laws was then dismissed as his side’s innings ended on 238-6.

Proffitt gave Portland the perfect start when Cerne Valley came to the crease, dismissing George Chubb without the away side posting a single run.

Wickets tumbled regularly as Portland soon had their opponents reeling for 62-7.

David and Robert Baney put together a solid partnership of 53 runs before the latter was dismissed by Jack Marsh, who took an excellent three-wicket haul.

Ultimately, Portland’s bowling sufficiently restricted their opponents as they managed to reach 151 but the home side claimed the crucial victory.

After the match, Portland captain Matt Randell spoke of being glad to get the required points but admits it has probably not been the season they would have liked.

Randell said: “It was a good win.

“We are not going into this Saturday (away at Poole Town Seconds) with so much pressure now, we can just go in and enjoy the last game of the season and then we are going to be staying up.”

When asked how it felt to secure safety, Randell said: “I think everyone was pretty relieved.

“There is still probably a little bit of disappointment that we probably have not had the season that we would have liked.

“Obviously when you lose five games in a row coming into a new league then you are always going to struggle from there so it is quite nice to come a long way from that and that we have ensured that we are in this division next year.

“Hopefully, next year we can show exactly what we can do as a team.”

CONTACT ME:

t: 01305 830990

e: aidan.williams

@dorsetecho.co.uk

twitter: @EchosportAidan