CERNE VALLEY 194-5 (20pts) beat SHILLINGSTONE 192 (7pts) by five wickets

CERNE Valley took their second win on the bounce with a five-wicket win over Shillingstone in County Division Two.

Cerne won the toss elected to bowl first but the Shillingstone front line batsmen got off to a good start with some aggressive shots from the off.

Pearce Mercer then removed Josh Staunton (11), who drove straight to Neil Kellaway at cover in a fantastic catch.

Shillingstone added a further 94 runs until Chris Cole (60) hit a shot straight to Mercer off George Wilkes (2-25).

Shillingstone found it hard to score with Mike Collinge (3-17) bowling tightly and Mercer (4-36) among the wickets as Shill were bowled out for 192.

In reply, Cerne’s opening partnership of John Stiles and Russ Hurford put on 57 until Hurford (35) was bowled by Lucy Spooner, a familiar figure in Cerne’s midweek ranks.

READ MORE: Cerne Valley break losing run at Corfe Mullen

That brought captain George Chubb (54no) to the crease, who worked hard at the start to steady the ship after the fall of John Stiles (26), Kellaway (4) and Pearce Mercer (5).

Craig Kellaway (15) came to the crease and it looked like the game was in the balance when he was stumped, however, Sam Downey rose to the occasion and delivered some vital blows, five fours and one big six, finishing on 38 not out as Cerne won with 2.2 overs to spare.

Reflecting on the win, Chubb praised the application of his team.

He said: “I thought the team did fantastic out there, in all departments.

“At the end, huge credit should go to Sam who took pressure off me with some brilliant straight batting.

“He thoroughly deserved the accolades at the end of the game.

“We have a huge game against Dorchester and they will not be facing the same side from our last encounter. We want to keep the momentum going.”

Cerne Valley host Dorchester Seconds in league action at the Simsay Oval tomorrow (1.30pm).