Cattistock & Symene lose to Dorchester by six wickets

CATTISTOCK & Symene fell to defeat at near neighbours Dorchester in the Wessex Internet Dorset Premier League.

In truth, it was a simple win for Jon Legg’s men even after they had lost the toss and were invited to field.

The Foxes stumbled to 32-6 as James Dunham (2-20) celebrated his 30th birthday in style by removing openers Wes Lewis (2) and Luke King (0), the latter dismissed by a smart stumping from Jim Ryall.

Cattistock & Symene did not help themselves as Leo Gurd (2) and Jason Bradley (13) were run out, either side of Dan Belt (4-24) bowling Ollie Nicholas (1).

READ MORE: Cattistock & Symene beat Christchurch by 99 runs

And, when Belt bowled Sam Good (0), the Foxes were staring at an embarrassing total.

Determined innings from Steve Tucker (30) and Ollie Legg (27), plus number 11 batter George Wyrill, who struck 15 from 13 balls, helped the Foxes to 126 all out.

Dorchester barely broke out of second gear in the chase, skipper Jon Legg (21) and Sathiya Narasimhan sharing 57 before Robin Jones (1-46) prevented Legg from making a big score against his old club.

Narasimhan (55) did, however, as he chalked up his second half-century of the season before perishing to a Wyrill catch off King.

Dorchester were just 11 runs short of victory at that point but King (3-5) bowled superbly to gain another bowling point for the Foxes, adding the scalps of Jamie Barrett (12) and Jones (0).

However, Simon Mitchem (2no) and Gautham Rajendar (8no) piloted Dorchy home without further alarm to secure their 14th successive home win and a fifth victory in seven games this season.

Tucker said: "It was always going to be a tough game, but we didn't help ourselves with the bat.

"It doesn't matter who you play in this league, you cannot throw wickets away like we did and expect to win. Two avoidable run outs were particularly frustrating.

"Our spinners did a good job in making Dorch work for their runs towards the end and grabbed us an extra bowling point."

CATTISTOCK & SYMENE II 194 (9pts) lost to ROYAL CHALLENGERS 301/8 (20pts) by 107 runs

DESPITE a heavy 107-run defeat against free-scoring Royal Challengers, Cattistock & Symene Seconds deserve the plaudits for plugging away to register a creditable nine bonus points against the County Division Three leaders.

Opener Hashim Abdul Salam’s 60 provided a firm basis for a mammoth total but it was Tyson Luis’ unbeaten 120 that saw the total to a daunting 301-8.

Ed Maltby (2-51) and Archie Mullins (2-30) made inroads but in general the bowlers were unable to stem the run rate.

In the second innings, Justin Gurd and Maltby fell cheaply and early, both bowled by Mandeep Ahluwalia (2-26) to usher in skipper Reuben Kingston prematurely.

Kingston and Joe Etherington frustrated the visitors with a fine third-wicket stand until Etherington was run out for a brisk 33.

Kingston proceeded to an excellent 66, a typically hard-hitting innings and scattering the close fielders, gaining support from another defiant knock from Bradley Wilkinson who ended undefeated with 39 runs.

Shijo Shijo finished with 4-44 and Duran Clayton mopped up the tail with 3-37 but Kingston’s men made Challengers fight all the way to the 37th over to finally win the match.

CATTISTOCK & SYMENE III 228 (20pts) beat PORTLAND RT II 168 (9pts) by 60 runs

SKIPPER Ollie James’ super 96 saw Cattistock & Symene Thirds romp to a 60-run defeat of Portland Red Triangle Seconds ay Symene.

Batting first, James and fellow opener Owen Staples got proceedings off to a brisk start until Staples departed for a well-crafted 21.

There followed a mini collapse which saw Phil Hawkins (6) and Orran Maudsley (1) both depart cheaply.

The arrival of Sam Challis stabilised proceedings and he looked in fine form racing to a brisk 37 until feathering a catch to gloveman Max Griffin; Challis’s first dismissal of the season.

When Damian Barnard soon followed the innings threatened to subside.

But Nate Stantiford-Knight contributed a priceless 16 to help James marshal the tail and bat out the overs, James eventually falling to the wily spin of Leon Adkins (4-48).

After tea, the Foxes’ young bowlers plugged away and were never intimidated by aggressive batting.

They got due reward for their patience by picking up wickets at regular intervals.

Stantiford-Knight (2-23) and Barnard (2-20) bagged a brace each and Lucas Richards polished off the tail with 3-16.