DORSET (278-5) lost to BUCKINGHAMSHIRE (280-5) by five wickets

DORSET manager Sean Walbridge has warned his side that improvements will have to be made in their bowling division if they are to make it through the group stages of the MCCA Knockout Trophy.

Dorset posted 278-5 and then had Buckinghamshire reeling on 30-3 on Sunday before an amazing fourth-wicket stand of 222 by former Gloucestershire all-rounder Mark Hardinges (114) and Paul Sawyer (101) took the game away from them in swashbuckling fashion.

The loss means the Dean Park outfit will now have to win their last three group matches to stand a chance of progressing to the quarter-finals and Walbridge is hopeful his men can pull that off, starting with an enthralling home clash against Cambridgeshire on May 10.

He said: “To put on 222 was a pretty amazing partnership considering we had them on 30-3 and it just took the game totally away from us.

“We missed two chances to get Sawyer out. The first one came reasonably early on in his innings but it was a difficult slip catch that went to Steve Selwood’s left but did not stick.

“The other one was an even better chance that we should have took and it came with them still needing 90 to win but to be fair our fielding on the whole was very good.

“We just bowled a bit to full and with a little too much width and they took full advantage.

“The wicket was really good and the boundaries behind both wickets were not that long so we were pleased with 278 and would have took that before the start of the game without a doubt.

“All of our top-order made runs, which was very pleasing, and if we can just improve a few things in the bowling department I am sure we can go on and do really well in our next three games in the competition, which we now need to win.

“Cambridgeshire will come to Dean Park on May 10 and that is a real do-or-die game now because they also lost on Sunday to Wales.”

Dorset made a positive start to their innings with openers Glyn Treagus (68) and Nick Park (22) putting on a first-wicket stand of 63.

Park then edged a delivery from George Harper through to Warren Miller but that did not upset the visitors’ rhythm as Chris Jones (56) came to the crease and immediately struck up an understanding with Treagus to move the score to 151.

Sensing they needed to turn up the pressure Bucks then responded by removing Treagus and Jones in relatively quick succession but Selwood (48 not out) and Roger Sillence (55) then joined forces to keep Dorset on track.

Bobby Sher (2-60) took a couple of wickets towards the end of the innings to displace Sillence and Matt Metcalfe (2) but with the away side reaching 278 by the end of their allotted 50 overs the Bucks clearly had it all to do.

And the hosts’ cause was certainly not helped when their top three batsmen all fell early in their reply. Ed Denham forced Russell Lane to hole out to Jones before Matt Matcalfe trapped Jason Harrison (1) leg before to turn up the heat on the Bucks and put Dorset in full control.

So when Denham then followed up by finding the front pad of Matt Eyles (18), leaving the Bucks stranded on 30-3, it looked like the game was quickly slipping away from the home side but no one had accounted for what happened next.

Eyles’ departure from the crease brought Hardinges and Sawyer together and the pair fought back with relentless boundaries that quickly had the Dorset bowlers rocking back on their heels.

Walbridge’s men tried everything but as their deliveries began to get a little wayward in their pursuit of another wicket it allowed the two batsmen to inflict even more damage.

Hardinges struck nine fours and seven sixes on his way to 114 while Sawyer cracked 13 fours and one six to reach 101 as the Bucks completely turned the tables.

Dorchester’s Dan Belt eventually trapped Sawyer leg before and Hard-inges soon followed when he sent a delivery by Dave Kidner into the hands of Jones but the damage had already been done.

That left Sher (13 not out) and Paul Atkins (one not out) the comfortable task of knocking off the winning runs as the home side reached their target with five wickets and 5.3 overs to spare.

DORSET

G Treagus c&b M Hardinges 68

N Park c W Miller b G Harper 22

C Jones st W Miller b J Harrison 56

S Selwood not out 48

R Sillence c S Stanway b B Sher 55

M Metcalfe b B Sher 2

C Park not out 3

Extras (4nb, 18w, 2lb) 24

Total (5 wkts, 50 overs) 278

FoW: 1-63, 2-151, 3-173, 4-264, 5-266

Bowling: S Stanway 10-1-34-0, P Sawyer 3-0-20-0, M Hardinges 10-0-53-1, G Harper 9-1-46-1, B Sher 10-0-60-2, M Gitsham 3-0-23-0, 5-0-40-1.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE

M Eyles lbw E Denham 18

R Lane c C Jones b E Denham 9

J Harrison lbw M Metcalfe 1

M Hardinges c C Jones b D Kidner 114

P Sawyer lbw D Belt 101

B Sher not out 13

P Atkins not out 1

Extras (4nb, 8w, 4b, 7lb) 23

Total (for 5 wkts, 44.3 overs) 280

FoW: 1-29, 2-30, 3-30, 4-252, 5-267

Bowling: M Metcalfe 9-2-29-1, E Denham 6-1-23-2, D Kidner 6-0-31-1, R Sillence 8.3-0-60-0, G Treagus 5-0-43-0, S Watkins 5-0-36-0, D Belt 5-0-47-1.