ABBOTSBURY 105-7 (19pts) beat POOLE III 101 (6pts) by three wickets

ABBOTSBURY wrapped up their County Division Three season in fourth place with an ultimately comfortable win over Poole Thirds.

The Swans bowled first after losing the toss and immediately made inroads into the Poole top order with four wickets falling in the first seven overs, Kynan Brian (2-29) and James Butler (3-36) the successful bowlers.

Scott Thompson (22) and Rob Hellawell (31) stopped the rot with a stand of 49 to move the score on to 74 but after Thompson was dismissed lbw by spinner Pankaj Nikale (1-15), a procession of wickets followed.

Butler returned to the attack to remove Hellawell, aided by Ashley Harrow’s excellent low catch at mid-off, while Elliott Gunn’s (3-13) three wickets and Simon Pengelly (1-4) with the final scalp polished off the remaining batters as Poole were bowled out for 101.

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Swans’ skipper David Worsdell shuffled up the batting order for the reply with Harry Testa-Fisher (13) joining Alex Drew at the top of the order.

However, it was the established opener Drew who was first to lose his wicket as he departed without troubling the scorers and the incoming Rob Thomas (0) was equally accommodating as Abbotsbury found themselves two down with just one run on the board.

Testa-Fisher belied his usual batting position with a couple of eye-catching boundaries before he was bowled by Thomas Wilmshurst (3-23) but the top order crumbled further as Kynan Brian (9) and Nick Kneebone (4) both had brief spells at the crease as the Poole attack reduced the Swans to 34-5.

With Butler and Pengelly now in the middle, Abbotsbury would have been aiming to dampen the away side’s optimism of victory but this was only increased as Butler (14) departed lbw and Pengelly (7) went in similar fashion with the Swans still requiring 46 and with only three wickets in hand.

However, the attack minded Pankaj Nikale (23no) was quickly into his stride with the bat as he had no difficulty in launching the ball to the boundary and Worsdell batted with calm authority.

There were no further alarms for the Swans as the match was won with a six hoisted by Worsdell (25) over the leg-side boundary to secure an early finish to the game.