CERNE VALLEY 129 (5pts) lost to POOLE TOWN II 245-4 (20pts) by 116 runs

CERNE Valley were outclassed by a strengthened Poole Town Seconds in County Division Two, losing by 116 runs at Simsay Oval.

On a gloriously sunny day, Poole won the toss and decided to bat first on a track that was extremely well prepared.

Poole’s openers got off to a good start putting on 60 runs, despite a few close calls in the field, with some fantastic fielding by some of Cerne’s younger stars.

The introduction of the wily spinner Mike Collinge (2-32) brought the game into life as he dismissed both openers, with a notable stumping from the wicketkeeper-captain George Chubb.

However, it was Poole’s next partnership that proved to be the turning point of the game as a 166-run partnership between first-teamers Badrul Alam (109) and Richard Armstrong (56) put Poole in prime position.

READ MORE: Cerne Valley come up short against Blandford

Despite a few drops in the field, the batsmen dismantled the Cerne bowling attack all around the ground, hitting 13 fours and six maximums between them.

Towards the end of the innings, Dave Portch (0-38) bowled some really tight lines to limit the total further but it was the veteran Dave Milner (2-24), who showed great guise to take two further wickets to eventually restrict Poole to 245-4 from 40 overs.

With a formidable 246 target to chase down, Cerne got off to the worst possible start with John Stiles (2) getting trapped leg before by Henri Abel (3-15).

The latter then beautifully bowled Russ Hurford (6) and Rob Meech (0) to leave Cerne in a tricky position.

Cerne Valley’s middle order of Chubb (30), Pearce Mercer (11) and Lloyd Mitchem (29) put up a brave resistance to withstand Poole’s tight bowling but the total was too big and despite batting for 36 overs, Cerne fell extremely short with 129 runs on the board.

Chubb said: “We were outclassed by two very good batsmen. Hopefully it was an opportunity for our batters to see how an innings should be constructed and the choice of shot selection needed to build a total like that.

“Thinking about the positives from the game, George Wilkes fielded brilliantly in the field, Lloyd showed really good batting glimpses with some excellent cover drives, Dave deserved more from his eight overs that he bowled straight through and Mike thoroughly deserved his two wickets.

“However, our man of the match was Dave who bowled very well at the end of their innings to keep the total down.

“He is a great influence on and off the field and sets a great example, still playing cricket with a smile on his face.”

Chubb is still optimistic about the season ahead but has reiterated the need for patience: “There is still a long way to go and we have still got a few key players to come back.

“We just need that first important win and then hopefully we can build on that.”

Cerne visit Broadstone Seconds tomorrow (1.30pm).

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