Dorchester 234-9 (6pts) lost to PARLEY 235-3 (19pts) by seven wickets

RAJ Naik was once again the thorn in Dorchester’s side as his Parley outfit replaced the county town at the Dorset Premier League summit.

The Dorset all-rounder snared five wickets before plundering an unbeaten 92 to help Parley return to the top, and relegate Dorchester to second spot, courtesy of a seven-wicket victory at Dean Park.

The visitors saw out their 50 overs but closed on a somewhat disappointing 234-9 with Dave Maslen (76) leading the charge.

Parley meanwhile, lost just three wickets in reply with Naik’s knock proving to be a match-winning contribution.

County town captain Martyn Richards paid tribute to Naik’s stellar show but also admitted he will be glad to see the back of him.

He said: “Raj was patient and made it look very easy – he was a worthy match-winner. There aren’t many like him in this area and thankfully we don’t have to play against him again this year.

“In both games against Parley the pressure was on him to stay in and he has demonstrated to our batsmen how we need to bat and be more patient at times.

“Raj won the game for them while we have got to hold our hands up because on the day we weren’t good enough.

“Having someone like Raj in their team must give Parley’s players a real lift. Prior to the game I said it would be one that separates the men from the boys.

“Raj looked the man and we need to emulate him if we are going to have success in the future. We won’t be sorry to see the back of him this season.”

Despite losing ground in the race for the title, Richards has not given up hope. He added: “Parley have lost to Weymouth and Stalbridge this season so they’ve shown that they can press the self-destruct button just like we did on Saturday.

“We have put in some fluid performances this season and can continue to do so. If we get a good result next week at Poole then we will be right on Parley’s tail.

“There’s a lot of cricket still to play and we want to go on another run and see where we are.”

After being inserted on an ideal batting track, the away side made a promising start under Maslen and Pete Moxom (36).

The latter was caught and bowled by Parley skipper Neil Summerson (4-47) but Lee Haynes (52) joined Maslen and the pair put on 96 for the second wicket.

However, once both men fell at the hands of Summerson, Dorchester collapsed from 191-3 to 232-9 with Naik (5-24) running riot and no other visiting batsman managing to reach double figures.

In reply, Andy Mead (3-50) bagged a couple of early victims to leave Parley on 50-2.

Naik then entered the fray and produced a third-wicket stand of 177 alongside Robbie Gunn (68) before notching the final eight runs himself to secure victory with 4.2 overs and seven wickets to spare.