PUDDLETOWN 130 (4pts) lost to POOLE TOWN II 355 (20pts) by 225 runs

DEPLETED Puddletown admirably battled away to a 225-run loss against a strong Poole Town Seconds in their County Division One clash at Plush.

Ryan Norman’s side featured a host of players normally unaccustomed to this standard amid another selection headache.

Puddletown are set to welcome back a catalogue of players this weekend against Portland, but those that were left to fend off the league leaders were ultimately outclassed.

Poole batted with aggression after losing the toss and being put in, George Moses crunching 126 from 98 balls including a mammoth 23 fours and a six.

READ MORE: Puddletown beat Wimborne Seconds by seven wickets

Teenage Dorset Ladies bowler Evie Snow (1-65) finally got rid of Moses but Jordan Down added 91 from 71 balls, featuring 16 boundaries, before he was stumped by Regan Norman off Rob Snow (1-59).

Darren van Niekerk (50) also scored heavily as Poole amassed 355 from their 45 overs.

Puddletown were always unlikely to get near to that total and James Kirk took 3-55 when removing most of the Kingfishers’ top order.

All six Poole bowlers took wickets, with Regan Norman (28) top-scoring for the hosts before they were valiantly dismissed for 130.

Speaking to Echosport, Ryan Norman, who claimed 2-59, said: “There were 20, 25 players out this week so it was one of them.

“Everyone’s put in a good shift, I can’t fault the effort of anyone in the side. We stayed together, the bowlers kept running in and Regan even took the gloves off and bowled really well.

“The team spirit was really good.”