PORTLAND RT 175 (7pts) lost to WIMBORNE II 200-6 (20pts) by 25 runs

PORTLAND Red Triangle suffered their first County Division One defeat of the season as Wimborne Seconds claimed a 25-run victory at Reforne.

The Minstermen successfully defended their 200-6 on what is a high-scoring ground, Triangle blaming questionable shot selection in their chase as a big factor in the defeat.

Portland skipper Matt Randell won the toss and chose to field first, with Wimborne openers Adam Child and Darren Jones making good progress.

Their stand of 88 was finally broken by off-spinner and second change bowler Jack Marsh (2-20), who took two wickets in two balls by removing Jones (28) and Toby Stainer-Reid (0).

READ MORE: Portland Red Triangle beat Hamworthy by six wickets

Child (69) batted well to notch his half-century but, after scoring eight boundaries and three maximums, he perished to Randell (2-31).

Randell then bowled Joe Welch (16) before a competitive finale to the innings between bat and ball.

Wimborne’s Ryan Roberts (26no) and Henry Lockwood (22) both added good contributions but Simon Proffitt came back to claim 2-25 from his nine overs as Wimborne scrambled to 200.

Portland’s reply was typically aggressive but Connor Houldsworth (3-22) got the better of Matt Barrett (7) and Joe Adkins (0) to leave Triangle on 22-2.

Randell (22) then blasted three fours and a six off 12 balls until he offered a catch to Child off Lockwood (1-40).

Proffitt (27) rebuilt with Callan Laws but when the all-rounder fell to Welch (1-46), the pressure ratcheted up on Laws.

The opener batted beautifully for his 97 but with wickets tumbling and the target still distant, he eventually perished three short of what would have been a brilliant century.

Laws did the majority of the scoring with 15 boundaries and a maximum in his fabulous 101-ball knock but numbers six to 11 scored only 12 runs between them as Jack Houldsworth (5-43) claimed a fifer to seal victory.

Speaking to Echosport, Randell said: “We pretty much threw the game away, to be honest.

“It was a selection of poor shots to gift them wickets. The bowling was not really up to much in terms of consistency.

“Realistically we should’ve been more patient and made sure that we really did put away the bad ball. They were offering a couple per over.

“We probably just got greedy and looked to finish it off quite quickly, it just didn’t work out.”

On Laws’ knock, Randell added: “He played fantastically, he definitely deserved a hundred, it’s probably one of the best knocks I’ve ever seen him play.

“He fell victim to the way the rest of the team had batted.

“Had someone else got some runs he probably would’ve made it to his hundred because there would’ve been less pressure to go on and win the game for us.”

Portland’s second string played out a thrilling tie at Winton Seconds in County Division Five.