MARNHULL 68-4 (18pts) beat PORTLAND RT 67 (2pts) by six wickets

PORTLAND Red Triangle’s batting collapse allowed Marnhull to take a straightforward six-wicket win in County Division One.

Fielding a youthful side, including debutants Nathen Cornish and Izaak Russell, Portland were asked to bat first after losing the toss.

Portland made a solid start, building to 16-0 before the floodgates opened when Zack Caunt (1-23) bowled Tim Forshaw (2).

In-form skipper Matt Randell chopped his first ball to deep point off Cameron Cudlipp (2-12), who promptly bowled George Munro (0).

Ashley Young (3-17), Paul Woodrow and Ed Clements (both 2-6) then skittled the rest of the Portland order, working around the defiant Bob Edwards (22).

Triangle could only manage 67 all out and Marnhull eased to the target in 18.3 overs – despite the best efforts of Jon Cameron.

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The Portland seamer claimed tidy figures of 3-16 from eight overs but 23 from Arthur Dimmack and an unbeaten 25 from Danny Harkin was enough for Marnhull.

Randell told Echosport: “Batting-wise we always knew it was going to be tough with the side we put out. Myself and Tim should’ve got a few more.

“We certainly made it harder for ourselves with poor shot selection. Bowling-wise I thought we bowled really nicely and fielded well. I reckon 120 would’ve been a very tight contest.

“Just a few lessons to be learned about playing the situation a bit better.”