PORTLAND RT 179-7 (6pts) lost to COMPTON HOUSE 181-4 (18pts) by six wickets

PORTLAND Red Triangle suffered a further blow to their promotion hopes as Compton House galloped to a six-wicket victory at Reforne in County Division One.

Opting to bat first after winning the toss on a warm day, Portland made what looked to be a substantially below-par total of 179-7 with only Chris Leake (51) and Chris Theakstone (44no) making a significant contribution.

Chasing just four an over, Compton House cantered to their target in just 29 overs as Giles Reynolds (62no) compiled a classy knock.

Patrick Reynolds (20no) unleashed two huge sixes to win the match, the second a monster hit – which smashed a roof tile on a house bordering the longest boundary.

The apparent ease with which Compton House chased their total will not sit well with Triangle, who are winless in a month with three losses and a rain-affected fixture.

As a result the islanders have slipped from second to sixth and hopes would have been high of arresting that trend after winning the toss on a good day for batting.

Despite the early loss of Ray Emery (1), Leake and Callan Laws (17) rebuilt to 47-1 until the latter was bowled by Mike Kennedy (1-30).

Leake reached a fluent 50 with eight fours and a six but perished when he offered a catch off the pinpoint bowling of Michael Harper (1-12).

At 82-3, House turned the screw as leg-spinner Piers Griffith-Jones (4-45) quickly removed home captain Matt Randell (11), Ryan Price (4) and Joe Adkins (6) to stall Portland at 122-6.

In-form Theakstone, who now has 272 runs at 54.40 this season, continued to push the score along but the hosts fell short of full batting points despite Matt Barrett (18) cracking two fours.

Shorn of talismanic all-rounder Simon Proffitt, Triangle were in need of an early breakthrough and received one when New Zealand swing bowler Sam Mihell (3-43) collected the key wicket of Harper (15).

However, that brought Giles Reynolds to the crease and the veteran batsman punished the bad balls to excellent effect, stroking seven boundaries and crunching two sixes on his way to a half-century.

Opener Joe Watts (23) found the going more difficult and he edged the off-spin of Barrett (1-43) to first slip as Portland checked the visitors at 93-2.

Looking to continue the fast scoring, House promoted the big-hitting Chris Haynes (28) to four and the powerful batsman smeared two sixes, one out of the ground, before Mihell forced him to mis-time a shot to long-off.

By then just 22 runs were required for victory and Patrick Reynolds scored most of them himself.

The all-rounder blitzed Barrett well beyond the George Inn pub for his first six before creaming him over cow corner next ball for an enormous six, damaging an adjacent property, to win the game.

Speaking to Echosport, Randell blamed poor scoring in the middle overs as a recurrent theme in defeat.

He said: “I think the pitch got a little bit better in the second innings, it was weird – we were expecting it to get a bit worse.

“They were clever with their bowling, bowled a few cross-seamers and a few cutters, whereas we didn’t and that might’ve been where the life was.

“It flattened out a little bit and we adjusted a bit late to it flattening down.

“We were just relying on hitting some good areas and the pitch doing a little bit.

“With the batting we were definitely short (of runs) and we’ve been struggling to kick on in the middle overs.

“When we get to 30 overs we’re having to chase the game.

“That’s always going to be a struggle.

“It’s just that strike rotation in the middle overs and someone getting after the change bowlers that’s going to help us over the next few weeks.”

CONTACT ME:

t: 01305 830990

e: neil.walton

@dorsetecho.co.uk

twitter: @EchoSportNeil