WEYMOUTH SECONDS 156 (4pts) lost to SHERBORNE 157-2 (20pts) by eight wickets

ANY hopes Weymouth Seconds harboured of still finishing in the top three in Dorset League Division One were sensationally sunk by Sherborne at the Terrace.

The Seasiders failed to deliver with the bat and paid the price as the hosts sauntered to an eight-wicket success to enhance their chances of beating Bourne-mouth to second spot.

Weymouth made a steady start with Simon Mitchem (15) and Faraz Ulhaq (21) putting on 46 for the opening wicket but once they both departed the rot set in.

From 83-2, the Seasiders slipped to 120-7, and despite resilient knocks by Kieron Womble (27) and Ben Ladd-Gibbon (33), they ended up falling well short of a competitive total as Sherborne skittled them for 156.

Nurton (3-24), Durston (2-20), P Hancock (2-26) and Tanswell (2-25) all returned impressive figures for the home side, who then went on to knock off the required runs with ease.

Baker (45) and L Hancock (86 no) inflicted huge damage at the top of the innings, with an opening stand of 79, before Lock (22) and Guppy (1no) helped to wrap up the job.

Vijay Mote and Mitchem picked up a wicket apiece but apart from that Weymouth had very little to cheer throughout the afternoon.

Losing skipper John Ryan said: “They were better than us, it was as simple as that. It was quite wet up in North Dorset and when their captain won the toss he went back to his team punching the air, which proved what an important one to win it was.

“Saying that, we got off to quite a decent start, reaching 46-0. However, after that, we then lost a couple of wickets and got bogged down a bit. The run rate dropped and that put pressure on the lower order batsmen, who then all started falling to the slower bowlers.

“The wicket was doing all sorts early on but once it dried out it became a lame duck and to be honest our bowling attack was just not strong enough, particularly after we lost Neil Walton and Callum Lawes to injuries.

“In the end we used 10 bowlers with Kieron Womble even taking off the gloves and having an over. We needed one more wicket to get an extra bonus point and thankfully Simon Mitchem took it late on.

“I have no complaints at all about the result because we were well beaten. They did not give us any chances and backed up a good bowling performance with a fine innings with the bat.

“They are a strong side and it will be interesting to see whether they can now go on and beat Bournemouth to second place.”