Bere Regis beat Sherborne by eight wickets

BERE Regis claimed an emphatic eight-wicket victory over Sherborne in their first Dorset Premier League meeting since 2019.

While the pandemic has come between the sides for the past three seasons, it was clear Bere continue to have the edge on their opponents since their last meeting.

Their latest victory bore all the hallmarks of the final day in 2019 when Bere bowled out Sherborne for 124 before securing a five-wicket win.

This time, Bere used bowler-friendly conditions well – despite losing the toss and being asked to field.

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Mike Roca (32), Tim Durston (30) and Mike Kennedy (24) were the only Sherborne batters to make meaty contributions as Bere shared the wickets around their varied attack.

Batters fell at regular intervals as Sean Walbridge (3-14) returned impressive figures, ably supported by Pete Russell (2-23) plus Rich Payne and Rob Murphy (both 2-32).

Sherborne’s biggest partnership of the innings – 31 – came for the seventh wicket between Durston and Roger Parfitt (10) as the visitors were dismissed for 132 in the 45th over.

Bere did experience early difficulty at 27-2 in their chase as Shane Pulling (1-43) and Durston (1-23) dismissed Russell (12) and Sam Goodhew (0).

But their nerves were calmed by a swashbuckling unbeaten 68 off 54 balls by Cam Robertson, the all-rounder crashing the ball to all parts with six fours and five maximums.

His explosivity allowed Matt King (39no) to anchor the innings and the duo constructed an unbroken 108 for the third wicket to guide Bere home with 24.1 overs remaining, banking their second straight win.

Speaking to Echosport, Bere skipper Brian Keegan said: “You could argue it went fairly to plan for us. The bowling was a lot better than last week.

“Fielding we could still improve, there was a couple of chances put down, but essentially the bowlers did their job.

“Rich and Rob bowled well first up and Sean and Pete both bowled ten overs straight through. They strangled the life out of Sherborne.

“Then reply-wise, Matt batted really well. Cam, all of a sudden, is showing a little bit of maturity in his batting.

“The combination of him and Kinger saw us home. It was fairly comfortable in the end. A good day at the office.”

On Robertson, Keegan said: “He’s got a 360 game. He’s in form but if he stays at the crease he’s always going to go at a decent rate just because of the way he plays cricket.

“I can’t speak highly enough of him and Matt. They both did jobs in equal measure.”

Bere Regis Seconds came unstuck against Sherborne Seconds, losing by ten wickets in County Division Three.

Bere main sponsor: Booth Gadenne

Bere first and second XI match ball sponsors: Dorset Property Surveys