MARTINSTOWN 172-1 (19pts) beat WIMBORNE & COLEHILL 170-8 (3pts) by nine wickets

MARTINSTOWN made light work of a strong Wimborne & Colehill side to earn a nine-wicket victory at Lower Ashton Farm.

Will Maltby, 17, marked his first game as captain with a classy 96 not out after Jenson Stewart’s 5-28 had helped restrict Wimborne to 170-8.

Although this was a fine victory, Town slipped a point further behind Dorset Funeral Plan Premier League leaders Dorchester after failing to take 10 wickets.

Wimborne skipper Harry Prince won the toss and elected to bat on a good batting track amid hot conditions.

And the Minstermen made a solid start, building to 59-0 as openers Colin Randall and Ben Bridgen played themselves in.

Although Bridgen (19) became the first of Stewart’s victims, Randall (50) notched his half-century to steer the visitors to 101-1.

However, Tao White then made the breakthrough to oust Randall and soon accounted for Mark House (20) to leave Wimborne without a set batsman.

Tom Butcher (24) and Joe Welch each hit a six as Wimborne gathered momentum – although Stewart had other ideas.

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The tall paceman hurried both men into offering catches and then bowled Graham Cole (3), finishing off his five-wicket haul when Prince edged behind to wicketkeeper Sean Williams.

Wimborne’s total of 170-8 looked short on a ground with small boundaries and so it proved – despite the early loss of Steve Gerety (8) to Welch (1-27).

From 8-1, Williams and Maltby constructed a glorious unbroken stand of 164.

The two youngsters showed huge maturity and ability in making a tricky chase look simple as they cantered to half-centuries.

Williams’ measured knock of 55 came off 89 balls and included five fours plus a six, but the innings of the day belonged to Maltby.

The stand-in captain’s run-a-ball 96 featured five maximums and 10 boundaries and he fittingly finished the game off by crashing Martin Barker (0-35) for four.

After Town cruised to victory in 31.4 overs, Maltby told Echosport: “I’m chuffed, everybody played their part.

“In the field, we were unbelievable. With the ball, Jenson was Mr Consistent and nobody went for over five. I couldn’t have asked for much more.

“We always kept the pressure on and we knew that would lead to wickets.”

On Martinstown’s batting, Maltby added: “Throughout this year I’ve enjoyed the chase and I got to go big.

“Sean played a good anchor role and just let me do the scoring. We played our game, throughout the season we’ve been trying to play attacking cricket.

“We really took that to another level, chasing it down in just above 30 overs was good to see.”

In County Division Three, Martinstown Seconds lost by seven wickets at Chalke Valley.

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