DORCHESTER 149-9 lost to BOURNEMOUTH 238-3 by 89 runs

DORCHESTER were given a brutal taste of Southern Premier League standards in an 89-run friendly loss to giants Bournemouth.

The Lions, who had Dorset captain Luke Webb and predecessor Chris Park in their ranks, showed their class as Dorchester were dominated at their Rec fortress.

Dorchester vice-captain Nick Roe, skippering the side with James Dunham nursing a knee injury, won the toss and elected to field first.

READ MORE: Dorchester sign Jon Legg from Cattistock & Symene

And the county town side, winners of back-to-back Dorset League titles, had early joy when former Dorset all-rounder Dan Belt, back from retirement, bowled Nick Park (4).

Park’s wicket brought Webb to the crease and he steadily built a fluent 107-run partnership with Sam Collins (60) before Jon Legg – another former Dorset player – castled his stumps.

Legg (2-32) snared the prize wicket of Chris Park after smart glove work from Roe saw him stumped.

But Webb was in blistering form, punishing any short deliveries to maximum effect – including a 90-metre six that nearly landed on the adjacent Weymouth Avenue main road.

Webb accelerated to reach a commanding century and finished 117 not out from 120 balls, scoring 11 fours and five sixes with Jamie Price (39no) an able ally.

Bournemouth posted 238-3 from 50 overs and set about making early inroads into Dorchester’s batting line-up.

Jim Ryall (4), Jack Owens (12), Eral Anderson (3) and Simon Mitchem (3) all fell cheaply before Legg and Dorset all-rounder James Caldwell settled their chase.

The duo put on a patient 48 for the fifth wicket until Legg (22) became the third victim for seamer Jake Hurley (3-15).

Caldwell accumulated runs sensibly with a series of well-placed, low-risk shots into the gaps.

He was joined by Belt (15) who, after hitting the part-time off-spin of Webb (2-23) for a big straight six, perished to the Dorset skipper.

Caldwell (55) notched a deserved half-century before being trapped leg before by Rob Pack (2-15), bringing to an end an eye-catching innings that will have caught the attention of the Dorset selectors.

Despite being reduced to 136-9, Dorchester’s tail battled on as Roe (2no) and Jamie Barrett (4no) ensured their side were not bowled out in their 50 overs, albeit falling well short of victory.

Speaking to Echosport, Roe said: “We’ve by no means embarrassed ourselves.

“The boys saw that the difference between the sides is the clinical edge.

“If you make a mistake, or bowl one bad ball an over, you get hit rather than getting away with it.

“It’s that margin for error. I don’t think the scoreboard flattered Bournemouth. We bowled really well first up.”

On Webb’s innings, Roe added: “He just accumulates. He came out and didn’t go mental from ball one.

“It was a little bit of an education in how to bat. He accelerated throughout the last 10 (overs).

“We thought they were going to go earlier than they did.”

Last season, Dorchester were bowled out for 60 by rivals Weymouth in a pre-season friendly and responded in perfect fashion by claiming victory in the shortened league campaign.

Asked if Dorchester could reply to the Bournemouth defeat in a similar way, Roe said: “It keeps you honest and galvanises us to play proper cricket.

“Also, to not get too ahead of ourselves. We’ve been really successful in the last two or three years but it’s good to have a loss like this.

“Especially in terms of the amount we’ve learned, we’ve played a side that are a couple of steps above us.”

Following the defeat, Dorchester lost the postponed Dorset T20 Cup final to Poole by 43 runs.

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