SWANAGE 214-5 (19pts) beat PORTLAND RT 194-9 (10pts) by 20 runs

PORTLAND Red Triangle suffered a second County Division One loss of the season as Swanage claimed a 20-run victory in round two.

Matt Randell’s men were aiming to bounce back from a nine-run loss to rivals Weymouth on the opening day and elected to bowl first on a green and damp Swanage track.

Randell’s decision was rewarded as Matt Barrett (1-39) bowled Mark Stacey (0) for a golden duck.

Swanage recovered to 47-1 until Jon Cameron (2-33) struck twice in three balls to bowl John Lewis (24) and danger man Craig Wells (0).

The game swung again when Jonathan Gregory (85no) was joined by skipper Ben Hodder, the duo compiling what proved to be a match-defining stand of 145.

Both men roared to half-centuries as Hodder slammed 12 fours and two sixes in a 66-ball 83 before off-spinner Jack Marsh (1-28) rattled his timbers.

But Gregory resumed the scoring and also struck 12 boundaries as Swanage closed on 214-5 from their 40 overs.

READ MORE: Portland toppled in Weymouth derby

Portland rocked early in their reply at 5-2 as Ryan Stearn accounted for obdurate duo Ray Emery (0) and Dave Adkins (2) in successive overs.

Hodder (2-41) ousted Ollie Whisker (13) and Charlie Dyke (1-19) claimed the fluent Callan Laws (17) as Swanage turned the screw at 70-4.

In another twist, Randell (57) notched his half-century but Stephen Ramsay (2-25) broke through to remove Portland’s captain, leaving the visitors on 140-5.

Barrett (53) continued but wickets tumbled around him and he eventually fell victim to Wells (2-35), who also took revenge on Cameron (0).

Hodder castled Tom Dalkins (9) late on but Swanage were at least deprived of the final bowling point as Triangle closed on 194-9.

Speaking to Echosport, Randell said: “I reckon I made a mistake at the toss and mis-read the pitch, it put us on the back foot.

“It didn’t give us as much as we thought. It was quite hard but green and wet on top. I thought it would offer lateral movement early on.

“We hit good areas but didn’t get as much out of the pitch as we could’ve done.

“Batting-wise I’m really proud of how close we’ve come to a chase.

“Chasing’s become one of our struggles and the last two weeks we’ve got close but haven’t got over the line.

“If you’d won a couple of games before that and were more confident, you’d probably get over the line.”

Portland’s second team lost to Cattistock & Symene Seconds by eight wickets in County Division Four.

Portland’s first team host Puddletown on Saturday (1.30pm).

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