SWANAGE 280-6 (19pts) beat PORTLAND RED TRIANGLE 238-8 (8pts) by 42 runs

PORTLAND Red Triangle lost a high-scoring game by 42 runs away to Swanage in County Division One.

Four players hit half-centuries, with Swanage’s Craig Wells the stand out performer with 84 runs, while Portland’s top scorer Callan Laws secured 50 runs for his side.

Swanage won the toss and elected to bat which, despite the loss of Tom Salmon (9) to a Matt Barrett delivery at 18-0, soon paid off, with the home side able to push up to 95-1 thanks to John Lewis (53) and Simon Goldsack (35).

Yet all this did was bring Mike Salmon (60) to the crease.

The loss of Goldsack to make Swanage 125-3 did little to dent their momentum.

Wells and Mike Salmon were then able to fire Swanage up to 206-3 before the latter was finally dismissed, trapped lbw by Simon Barrett (2-35).

It was 10 runs later that Ben Hodder (5) was caught by Ollie Whisker from a Simon Barrett delivery, but yet again this did not provoke any Swanage collapse.

Wells and David Goldsack (21no) then took over to further fire Swanage up to an impressive 277-5 before Wells finally fell, bowled by Sam Mihell (1-55).

The 45 overs expired soon after, leaving a big total for Portland to chase.

Portland captain Matt Randell (21) was the first to fall, with his side at 24-1, after he was caught by Mike Salmon from a Mike Hernandez (1-31) delivery.

Chris Leake (24) and Laws did well to build up to 70-1 before Leake was bowled by Steve Kent (3-29).

A profitable stand between Ray Emery (26) and Laws then saw Portland up to 119-2 when Laws was dismissed.

Wickets began falling regularly at this point, although Ollie Whisker (44) and Matt Barrett (24) saw Portland close down on the target at 203-6.

Yet Barrett was bowled by Ryan Norman (2-39), and with the overs running out, Portland were restricted to 238-8.

Reflecting on the match, Portland captain Matt Randell told Echosport: “We obviously did not have full availability that we have had the last few weeks, we made a few changes because of that. I don’t think it made too much difference, they just bowled really well during the middle overs. The pitch probably got a little bit slower.

“They probably used their spinners and slower bowlers effectively throughout that period which is probably where we lost the game.”

Portland host rivals Weymouth at Reforne on Saturday (1.30pm) seeking to avenge the three-wicket loss earlier in the season.

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