PORTLAND RT 314-8 (20pts) beat BROADSTONE II 89ao (4pts) by 225 runs

PORTLAND Red Triangle stormed to their second straight County Division One victory with a crushing 225-run victory over Broadstone Seconds at Reforne.

Looking to back up last week’s four-wicket win at Compton House, Triangle were put in after losing the toss and lost Ray Emery (0) to Ed Jack (5-60) early on.

Skipper Matt Randell (1) followed, lofting a catch off Kyle Randall (1-41) as Portland jittered at 19-2.

It took a sparkling 127-run partnership between the fluent Ryan Price and Chris Leake (57) to get the innings going until the latter was bowled by Simon Leadbeater (1-34) at 146-3.

Chris Theakstone (46 off 30 balls), Simon Proffitt (21 off 17) and Ollie Whisker (16 off 16) all scored rapidly to reinforce Price (92) who fell agonisingly short of a century as Triangle made 314-8.

Broadstone required exactly seven an over but were blitzed soon into their reply by Sam Mihell (3-28) as they fell to 8-2.

Simon Proffitt (2-21) also chipped in with the important wicket of Rob Wallis (26) before young spinner Jack Marsh (3-19) swept away the tail to complete a resounding triumph.

Speaking to Echosport, Randell was impressed by all aspects of Triangle’s performance.

He said: “I didn’t know what to expect from Broadstone. Last year they were quite strong up at their place early in the season. It was quite nice to get a big win.

“It was really nice to see Ryan come in and mark his place in the team. He got called up quite late and he’s been on the fringes of the first team for a couple of seasons. It was nice for him to cement that batting spot.

“Just having Chris Leake back for a full season is a luxury, just with the experience he brings and the amount of runs he’s scored for the club. He’ll continue to impress during the year.”

On his side’s clinical bowling display, Randell added: “Sometimes when you put on 300-odd you can be a little bit lazy in the field and take it for granted.

“So the message was to go out there, send a message to everyone in the league that our bowling attack is pretty strong.

“I just set a target and said ‘see if we can bowl another team out for under 100’ and set the tone early. Sam and Si are a great opening pair.

“Jack came on, hit some good areas, gave it a lot of flight and it was encouraging to see.”