MARNHULL 198 (7pts) lost to Dorchester 199-7 (20pts) by 3 wickets

DAN Belt signed off in style as he snared six wickets in Dorchester’s final-day win at rock-bottom Marnhull.

The talented all-rounder returned impressive figures of 10-4-26-6 to shatter the home side’s encouraging start and restrict them to 198.

And although the county town side suffered a few hiccups along the way, they reached their target with three wickets and 10.3 overs to spare, securing a third-place finish in this year’s Dorset Premier League.

Of Belt’s heroics, captain Martyn Richards said: “Although the calibre of opposition was not quite the same, Dan’s performance was similar to the one against Poole last month when he took 7-34.

“He bowled terrifically on Saturday and went through their tail end.

“He is not really pushing himself as a result of the side injury he sustained recently, which played a part in us not being able to push for the title, but hopefully he’ll be back to normal after plenty of hard work in the winter.”

Richards also gave praise to top-order batsman Dave Maslen (67) and young bowlers Jon Legg (1-18) and Joe Power (0-27).

He added: “We won the toss and invited them to bat, and they went on to get 198, which we chased down with quite a few overs to spare.

“However, we did lose seven wickets so we were quite relieved to get there. Dave Maslen was the key man, getting 67.

“Two other shining lights were Jon Legg and Joe Power. Jon bowled a tight spell and took 1-18 while Joe, although wicketless, bowled 10 overs for just 27 runs.

“Andy Mead (0-33) and James Dunham (0-31) opened the bowling and despite their endeavours, went for quite a few runs.

“But Joe and Jon came on and took the pace off the ball and bowled with great lines, helping to shift the momentum back in our favour before Dan tore through them. With the bat, we really needed someone to stay with Dave and Jon (23) delivered the innings we needed to get us within touching distance.

“Andy (28) then delivered a few lusty blows to help see us over the line.”

Reflecting on a campaign which saw Dorchester’s title charge end last month, following back-to-back defeats against rivals Parley and Poole Town, the skipper said: “We can finish this year knowing that third place is a fair reflection of our season.”