BRIDPORT 181 (20pts) beat WINTON SPORTS (12pts) 165 by 16 runs

ASHLEY Nicholls' man of the match display inspired Bridport to victory over Winton Sports at the Brewery Ground in Dorset Funeral Plan Division Two.

Nicholls contributed 30 with the bat and alongside last man James Windebank compiled a crucial tenth-wicket partnership of 34 before overwhelming the visitors with a hostile spell of bowling.

Skipper Chris Backhouse opted to bat but perhaps regretted his decision when his side were floundering at 22-2 after Matt Sherring (5) and Sam Good (4) had been dismissed cheaply.

Keeper Freddie Everitt (37) joined Sean Fitzgerald (46) for an important stand of 79 but another middle order collapse left Bridport reeling at 147-9 as Kieron Cashell (5-36) and Badrel Alam (3-50) restricted the home side.

However, Nicholls propelled the score to a healthy 181 and, suitably roused from his batting heroics, opened the attack after tea and instantly found a metronomic rhythm.

Winton frustrated Bridport for long periods with an attritional opening stand of 77 but the run rate was constrained and expansive strokes seldom attempted.

Eventually, this overly cautious approach backfired when wickets tumbled in quick succession as paceman Nicholls returned to decimate the visitors' reply and record outstanding match figures of 4-27 in 12 overs.

Dave Herbert (2-39) and Windebank (2-19) backed Nicholls well and captain Backhouse, who wrapped up the contest when he uprooted Lee Garrett's stumps, praised his young spearhead for a superlative performance.

He said: "Ashley was excellent for us again and his innings was definitely the key point of the match because it gave us something to bowl at.

"His first six overs only went for ten runs and when he came back for his second spell he was rewarded with wickets."

Despite marshalling his troops to their second win of this campaign, Backhouse insists there are areas that must be addressed to assist further progress.

"Our fielding and bowling was excellent and gets better all the time, but we need to score more runs in the middle order," he admitted.

"We deserved to win but if we're going to continue to climb the league then we'll need to look at that."

BREWERY GROUND SCOREBOARD

BRIDPORT

Fitzgerald c Waters b Cashell 46

M Sherring lbw Alam 5

Good b Alam 4

Everitt b Cashell 37

Herbert c Bradley b Wynn 17

Smith lbw Garrett 3

Backhouse c Clarke b Cashell 5

Tozer c William b Alam 0

Nicholls c Wynn b Alam 30

A Sherring lbw Cashell 1

Windebank not out 3

Extras 30

Total (all out, 44 overs) 181

FoW: 1-13, 2-22, 3-101, 4-124, 5-133, 6-141, 7-143, 8-144, 9-147, 10-181

Bowling: Garrett 11-1-41-1, Alam 10-0-50-3, Williams 7-1-31-0, Cashell 12-1-36-5, Wynn 4-0-23-1.

WINTON SPORTS

Waters run out 35

Alam c Fitzgerald b Windebank 41

Shearing b Windebank 0

Willard c Good b Herbert 24

Clarke b Nicholls 0

Wynn b Nicholls 5

Phillips b Nicholls 1

Bradley b Herbert 4

Williams lbw Nicholls 1

Cashell not out 5

Garrett b Backhouse 13

Extras 37

Total (all out, 44.4 overs) 165

FoW: 1-77, 2-87, 3-121, 4-122, 5-128, 6-130, 7-134, 8-136, 9-142, 10-165

Bowling: Nicholls 12-2-27-4, A Sherring 9-4-23-0, Backhouse 6.4-1-21-1, Fitzgerald 3-0-21-0, Windebank 5-1-19-2, Herbert 10-0-39-2.