MARTINSTOWN 174-4 (20pts) beat WIMBORNE & COLEHILL 172 (5pts) by six wickets

MARTINSTOWN brushed aside the champions Wimborne and Colehill to end their Dorset Funeral Plan Premier Division campaign on a high and cement a fourth-placed finish.

Champions Wimborne needed just four points to secure the title but Martinstown worked hard and made the task difficult with a superb end to the season.

Martinstown won the toss and put Wimborne in to bat and the decision paid off as Mike Kennedy-Barnard took the wicket of opener James Miller with just 22 runs on the board.

Wimborne were steady however and it was not until Wimborne were 59-1 that Kennedy-Barnard struck again to dismiss Colin Randall (26).

Wimborne kept plugging away but lost regular wickets with Mark House trapped lbw (19) by Ryan Chase, before George Bartlett (22) was dismissed by Nathan McNab.

Tom Caines was a batting highlight when he hit 45 but he was dismissed with Wimborne on 149-5.

However, Wimborne were then skittled with a late blast from Matt Camp, who whittled away the Wimborne tail with four wickets.

Wimborne went from 171-5 before the last five wickets were taken for the loss of just one run.

Martinstown then did well in the chase, Sean Williams (6) was dismissed with 32 runs on the board.

Martinstown captain Ed Nichols hit a superb 64 before he was bowled by Bartlett with his side up to 91 runs.

Will Maltby was then dismissed but by this point the finish line was in sight with 23 runs required for the win.

Martinstown then coasted the rest of the way to a superb victory with Teddy Andrews hitting 62 with the wicket of Chase (3) at 169 the only hiccup.

After the match, Martinstown captain Ed Nichols said: “It was a brilliant way to finish the season for us. I think it was a difficult game for them because they were very conscious of the points and I think they built their innings around that.

“We had a bit of an advantage in being able to put them in and make them sweat on getting those points.

“They probably left it a bit late to tee off and get the above par total and then Matt Camp was brilliant in his second spell, taking three wickets and it really pulled the rug out from underneath their feet.”

“So to keep them to 172 with a really strong batting side was a great effort.”