BLANDFORD SECONDS 220-9 (19pts) beat Dorchester SECONDS 205-8 (12pts) by 15 runs

IAN Sibley lamented a “terrible start with the ball” after Dorchester Seconds failed to complete a hat-trick of Dorset League Division Two victories.

The county town outfit lost by 15 runs away to mid-table rivals Blandford Seconds, which resulted in Dorchester being leapfrogged by their opponents.

Blandford exploited some ill-disciplined bowling to make an explosive start and lay the groundwork for their total of 220-9 from 45 overs.

Dorchester were reduced to a precarious 7-2 in reply and although they recovered thanks to skipper Sibley, who top-scored with 47, they were always behind the required run-rate.

Speaking to Echosport, Sibley said: “We got off to a terrible start with the ball and allowed Blandford to get up to about 80 after 12 overs.

“We did okay to drag it back and keep them to 220 but overall it was a poor bowling performance. I bowled terribly and wasn’t the only one. Only Joe Power and Steve Budd performed well.

“Batting-wise we made another disappointing start. When I came in we needed 160 off 20 overs, so we decided to treat it like a Twenty20 game.

“The result probably wasn’t as close as it looked because we couldn’t keep up with the run-rate, but having said that we probably dominated 60 per cent of the match.

“It was nice to collect 12 points, which meant we maintained our average. We’ve had a couple of really poor away games where we’ve only picked up a couple of points and that has cost us.”

Upon winning the toss, Sibley elected to field first but the decision backfired as Blandford tucked into some wayward bowling and got their innings off to a flyer.

New ball merchants Jae Miller (0-21) and James Dunham (0-42) went wicketless and were expensive, while Sibley’s two wickets in his five-over spell cost him 47 runs.

But Joe Power (2-23) and Steve Budd (4-64) were the pick of the attack and brought Dorchester back into contention.

In reply, the visitors’ victory aspirations suffered a double setback when opener Dave Herbert (4) and number three Lewis Cutter (0) perished with only seven runs on the board.

Blandford continued to chisel away at the batting card and it needed a sixth-wicket partnership of 51 between Sibley and vice-captain Stuart Voss (27) to steady the ship.

Budd (32) and Dunham (28) unleashed several lusty blows down the order as Dorchester attempted to reel in the home side’s score, but the pair had been left with far too much to do.

The county town side will hope to make amends when they host table-topping Hamworthy Recreation today (2pm).