PORTLAND RED TRIANGLE 205-8 (20pts) bt SWANAGE 138 by 67 runs

SIMON Proffitt took a superb five-wicket haul as Portland Red Triangle eased to a solid 67-run victory over Stalbridge in County Division One.

Portland captain Matt Randell and Simon Barrett also both took two wickets in a consistent bowling performance from the home side.

The hosts won the toss at Reforne and opted to bat first, but got off to a difficult start, with opener Ryan Price dismissed for a duck by Ryan Norman with Portland on eight runs.

However, Callan Laws (18) and Ray Emery (38) then had a productive partnership to push the score up to 45-1 before the former was dismissed, caught by Peter Baczala from a Mike Wells delivery.

Emery was the next to fall, caught by Baczala from a Craig Wells delivery with Portland having pushed on to 80-2 prior to his dismissal.

Wickets fell a bit more regularly at this stage, with Chris Leake caught just four runs later.

Proffitt and Ollie Whisker then fell as Portland pushed on to 125-6, with the score in danger of falling short of a strong total.

However, then came the home side’s most fruitful partnership, as Randell and Chris Theakstone bolstered the scoreboard by 46 runs.

Randell was then dismissed to leave Portland on 171-7 and Matt Barrett then was dismissed 13 runs later as the home side set a solid total of 205-8.

Swanage made a disastrous start in their reply, with John Lewis bowled by Proffitt without a run being put on the board.

With just three runs scored, the visitors had lost both openers, as Baczala (1) again fell to Proffitt.

The visitors responded with their best partnership of the match, when Wells (26) and Geoff Willcocks (31) batted to 51-2 before Wells became the next victim of Proffitt’s bowling.

Geoff Willcocks soon departed, caught by Theakstone after a Simon Barrett delivery with 62 runs on the board, before Sam Willcocks fell to another Barrett ball.

At this point, Johnathan Gregory took his place at the crease, with his 32 the highlight of the visitors’ innings.

However, Gregory’s dismissal at 127-8 provoked a quick routing of the remains of the Swanage tail as Portland sealed a solid victory.

Portland captain Randell admitted they had thought that their total was about 30 runs short, while referencing that he felt they had batsmen that did not get going that could have done.

Randell told Echosport: “They are never easy, we probably should have cashed in on a few more runs.

“They had some batsmen that probably didn’t get going that could have, so 205 we probably thought we were about 30 short so it was just about hitting our areas, fielding really well and just putting them under as much pressure as possible.

“I think in the first 15 overs we did that really well and from there we had the game where we wanted it and then it was just about kicking on and making sure that we got the result.”

Discussing their early dismissal of both of the Swanage openers, Randell said: “He looked really good, he looked like he could take the game away from us, he was using his feet quite well to Si which is never easy with his pace, so that (the dismissal) was quite good.“It was really good to get Peter Baczala, because he could have probably gone on and made some big runs so to get him early, was good.”

Randell also discussed his side’s approach when it comes to bowling, preferring an aggressive approach.

Randell said: “I think it is key to break partnerships as much as possible, we are always looking to take wickets. I think attacking when fielding is always the best option.

“If you don’t let them build that partnership then you have always got an end that you can look to take wickets, so that is really important I think, attack as much as we can.”

Discussing his side’s turn with the bat, Randell spoke of the need to ‘kick on’ and convert their opportunities into bigger scores for Portland.

Randell said: “We had a lot of batsmen get themselves in but then they did not really cash in lots of starts.

“Ray (Emery) looked really good at the top of the order but again didn’t kick on and make that 50, then we had a few others, Ollie Whisker again he looked really good but again didn’t kick

on.

“I think it is about kicking on and converting those starts into bigger scores, I hit 36 then didn’t kick on.”

Portland travel to Weymouth on Saturday.