Weymouth lose to Corfe Mullen by 171 runs

CORFE Mullen hammered Weymouth by 171 runs as the Seasiders’ patchy County Division Two form continued.

Two Corfe batters recorded centuries as Weymouth toiled thanks to a woeful fielding display, while Jack Sapsworth’s 79 provided the only positive in an otherwise tame reply.

Weymouth’s troubles began as the Seasiders mis-read a lush green pitch and elected to bowl.

While there was early bite for the bowlers, Weymouth too often failed to put the ball in the right areas.

READ MORE: Weymouth beat Shaftesbury by 55 runs

But they were gifted their first wicket when Richard Witherington chipped a leg-side half-volley from Adam Hoyes (1-32) to Shafeek Urumancheri at mid-wicket.

Before that, the Seasiders dropped former Bashley and Hamworthy all-rounder Sam Stroud early in his innings and he duly punished Weymouth with a blistering array of shots.

Stroud tucked into some friendly bowling, smearing anything in his arc with clean and powerful hitting – including two giant sixes down the ground.

Marco Nott (1-56) profited from sharp glovework by Kieron Womble to have Dan Flooks (16) stumped, but Weymouth’s standards quickly fell away.

Lethargic fielding in the ring enabled Corfe to routinely run soft singles, while extremely poor work on the boundary led to a succession of embarrassing fours squirming through their fielders’ grasp.

Stroud was the biggest beneficiary, reaching his century before the halfway mark and finding support from Michael Jordan.

The duo put on 149 for the third wicket and Stroud (147) was finally bowled by Lloyd Beals (1-48) having struck 15 boundaries and four sixes, to leave Corfe on 254-3.

However, Jordan piled on the misery for the Seasiders along with crisp strokeplay from Ian Cresswell (35no).

They took Corfe over the 300 mark and Jordan (100no) struck four down the ground to bring up his own ton as the hosts closed on 333-3 from 45 overs.

Weymouth’s reply began poorly as Ben Bolt (3-24) removed Kieron Womble (6) and Shafeek Urumancheri (9) cheaply, before John Wilson (15) was bowled by Tommy Stannard (1-23).

Sapsworth took the fight to Corfe but Beals (8) was unlucky to be given out lbw to Bolt despite advancing well down the track.

Alex Lark (2) was then caught off a rising delivery from Stroud (1-42) but Sapsworth impressively sped to his half-century.

However, having struck 79 he chased a wide delivery off Manav Kathpalia and was caught at mid-off, with skipper Harry Mitchell (20) departing in identical fashion three balls later.

Kathpalia (4-24) encountered little resistance from Weymouth after that, taking two of the final three wickets as Weymouth slipped from 142-5 to 162 all out to complete a big defeat.

Speaking to Echosport, Mitchell said: “Winning the toss you expect to start with energy and put the ball in the right areas.

“I thought we started poor and it did get worse. Wides, extras, mis-fields – and plenty of them – fielders at times on their heels, people disinterested. It looked like a chore for a lot of people to field.

“Even when we took wickets there was no real pressure on their side. They batted exceptionally well but even still they’re hitting balls to fielders and running singles that shouldn’t be there, which is poor.

“We’re not normally like that as a team. We pride ourselves on our fielding and bowling. It was probably the worst fielding and bowling performance we’ve had since I’ve been captain.

“There were only two or three players who can say they had a good game in the field, their volume in the field and saving runs was there.

“There were a few that were scared of the ball and all the basics that you have were not there. It was sad to see.”

However, one of the few positives for Weymouth was Sapsworth’s performance.

Mitchell added: “There have been three form batters in the first team this year: Kieron, Neil Walton and Sappy.

“He’s been consistent with 30s and 40s and he did lead in the field and the bat in a tough time when we were losing wickets.

“He took the bull by the horns and had a real proper performance, like a first-team batter needs to do. I’m really happy for him.

“He missed out on a ton, yes, but with that ball nine times out of ten he plays that differently. He’ll learn from that and get better but he was a shining light in a poor performance.”

Weymouth Seconds remain unbeaten after a dazzling 154-run victory over Swanage Thirds in County Division Six, John Ryan taking 5-18.

Dorset Trade Skills man of the match: Jack Sapsworth