PORTLAND RT 135 (6pts) lost to COMPTON HOUSE 139-8 (18pts) by two wickets

PORTLAND Red Triangle lost their final home game of 2022 by two wickets as Compton House claimed a two-wicket victory at Reforne.

House needed to win to keep alive their hopes of avoiding relegation but still need a 15-point gain on Stalbridge, who host Portland today (1.30pm), to stay up on the final day.

Batting first after winning the toss, two collapses cost Portland as they were dismissed for 135.

At 56-1, Portland then found themselves 77-5 as Michael Harper rolled back the years to claim 5-28.

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And leg-spinner Piers Griffith-Jones (4-14) then helped instigate Portland’s demise from 118-6.

Portland looked to be heading to a swift defeat as House reached 99-2 in their reply courtesy of Harper (28) and Giles Reynolds (40).

That was until Simon Proffitt (3-19) and Rich Samuel (3-37) reduced them to 127-8 with nine runs still needed.

However, Hugh Tatnam (13no) crashed three boundaries to see the visitors to a potentially priceless win.

Speaking to Echosport, home skipper Matt Randell said: “They were definitely more up for it than us.

“They want to stay up and they had a stronger team out. We didn’t play our best cricket and let them bowl to us.

“The was our first issue and then with the ball we bowled and fielded quite well but dropped a few catches. That probably let us down.

“If we held a few, we’d have probably scraped a result out of it.”