DORCHESTER 218-7 (19pts) bt SHROTON 66ao (6pts) by 152 runs

A RUTHLESS bowling performance that saw just two Shroton batsmen hit double figures helped Dorchester to a rampant 152-run victory in the Dorset Funeral Plan Premier League.

Simon Mitchem (65) and Mike Peak (50) set the tone with great innings with the bat with a 110-run partnership, as Dorchester extended their winning run to six games.

Dorchester batted first after an uncontested toss, but put in a consistent performance that long eclipsed the following innings.

Jack Owens (22) was caught by Charlie Anstee from a Matt Pike delivery for 36-1.

There was a brief stutter, when opener Nick Roe (19) was dismissed with Dorchester now on 60-2, followed by Eral Anderson (0) who was trapped lbw by Ryan Doble for a golden duck.

Yet Mitchem and Peak took over at this point, and fired the scoreboard up with a tremendous stand, before the latter was caught by Tony Wooldridge off Marc Doble (2-28).

The wickets fell more regularly afterwards, with the best partnership the 25-run effort from Dan Belt (17) and Jamie Barrett (16).

The 50 overs finished with Dorchester on 218-7 – a score Shroton would not get close to.

Dorchester captain James Dunham (3-17) wasted no time in taking the wickets of openers Marc Doble (0) and Colin Parfitt (5) with just eight runs on the board, and the visitors soon fell to 13-4.

Ryan Doble (6) and Anstee (13) resisted, pushing the score to 39-4 before Doble was caught by Barrett off Owens (1-8).

Barrett’s remarkable 4-5 helped skittle the rest of the order soon after, as Shroton perished for a measly 66 runs.

After the match, Dunham emphasised the overall performance of his side, particularly praising Mitchem and Peak.

He told Echosport: “It was a very good all-round performance, obviously with the uncontested toss we got put in to bat first.

“Both Nick and Jack got us off to a good start, and then we kind of crumbled from 60-1 to 63-3 and that is exactly where our middle order comes into play.

“Hats off to Simon and Mike, who got us through a really tricky period, both getting to 50.

“In the scenario they both batted very well and then our lower order came into play and that is where depth shows I think.

“Going from 60-3 to just shy of the full batting points at 218, yeah we were happy with that.”

Elsewhere, Dorchester Seconds host Wareham on Saturday after a bye weekend.