BROADSTONE 248-9 (9pts) lost to DORCHESTER 287-8 (19pts) by 39 runs

DORCHESTER earned an impressive victory at Broadstone to move into third place in the Wessex Internet Dorset Premier League standings.

Jon Legg’s men have now won four matches and chalked up successive wins following defeat to Bere Regis in week four.

They did so after a high-scoring encounter at Delph Woods that produced a whopping 535 runs in total.

Despite sunny conditions all week, Broadstone won the toss and chose to field, backing their batters in the chase.

READ MORE: Dorchester beat Blandford by five wickets

However, Dorchester took full advantage of the new ball as Legg (50) and fellow opener Sathiya Narasimhan (54) both made half-centuries.

The duo shared 121 for the opening wicket before the latter was stumped by the smart work of Gareth Williams off Jack Morgan (4-64).

Jamie Barrett (1) edged to Williams off Harry Leadbeater (2-49) and then Legg was run out by the Broadstone wicketkeeper, who had a hand in all three wickets to leave Dorchy on 149-3.

Simon Mitchem (15) and Dan Belt (0) also fell to Morgan and Leadbeater respectively but the visitors’ stuttering innings was revived by their middle order.

Kiwi overseas all-rounder Harry Jones ploughed 42 from 39 balls but the star turn came from the ever-reliable Gautham Rajendar.

The Indian star smashed 73 from 48 balls, including seven fours and three sixes, to blast Dorchester to 287-8 with the help of a generous 45 extras.

In reply, Broadstone made a similarly impressive start with the bat, surging to 129-0.

The majority of the scoring came from the belligerent Ben Jack (94) who perished to Krish Subramanian (1-28) just shy of three figures having crashed 13 fours and two sixes in his 86-ball knock.

And, when Frankie Gamble (49) and Leadbeater (52) continued the onslaught, Dorchester needed quick wickets to get themselves back in the game.

They duly took six for just 12 runs as Broadstone faltered badly, Narasimhan (1-38) bowling Gamble to begin the collapse.

Dan Belt claimed a run out plus 2-31, including the attacking Leadbeater, who departed having crunched five maximums and two fours in his 39-ball stay.

Broadstone’s hopes of victory were then extinguished by Mitchem’s late spell of 4-26, mopping up the tail to leave the hosts 39 runs short.

Speaking to Echosport, Legg said: “It was tricky but I’m very happy with the win. They made us work for it with ball in hand but our persistence paid off eventually.

“The thing that impressed me most was partnerships when batting and bowling. Myself and Sathiya built a good platform for the team from which G and Harry continued on.”

He added: “Our spin tied them down and Belty came on and rattled through a couple of their batsmen. Mitchem came on late and managed to rattle through their lower order pretty quickly.

“Ultimately 20 points would have been nice, but we’re happy with the 19 we picked up.”

Elsewhere, Dorchester Seconds remain top of County Division Three after a five-wicket win over Cattistock & Symene Seconds, while Dorchester Thirds lost to Colehill by 85 runs in Division Six.