WIMBORNE II 223-6 (19pts) beat WEYMOUTH 221-9 (8pts) by four wickets

WIMBORNE Seconds came out victorious by four wickets over Weymouth in a topsy-turvy encounter in the second round of County Division One.

The Seasiders posted 221-9 batting first, anchored by a classy knock of 77 from Neil Walton, but were eventually run down on a good cricket wicket at The Leaze.

Weymouth looked to have the upper hand when they took their sixth wicket with Wimborne still 93 runs adrift, but a calm partnership from Henry Lockwood (51no) and Martin Barker (30no) steered the hosts home in the 43rd over.

Walton was also the star with the ball, taking 4-36, while leg-spinner Shafeek Urumancheri impressed upon return with 2-28.

READ MORE: Weymouth lose to Marnhull by 32 runs

Urumancheri claimed his first scalp with a neat catch to dismiss Harry Prince (40) and break Wimborne’s opening stand of 74. He claimed another in his next over with a well-flighted delivery that was complemented by a fantastic catch from John Wilson at mid-on.

Walton then came into his own from the other end, trapping Joe Welch lbw in the over before drinks and 102-3 became 128-6, including the wicket of set batter Adam Child (47) as the all-rounder continued his successful day out.

Lockwood and Barker were circumspect to begin with and were aware that Weymouth had only used four bowlers up to this point.

They went after leg-spinner Russ Haylock when he was introduced in the 26th over, hitting him out of the attack.

Openers Lloyd Beals (0-44) and Adam Hoyes (0-55) were unable to stem the flow from the other end, with Wimborne passing Weymouth’s score of 221 with 19 balls to spare.

Earlier in the day, Weymouth had been 44-3 before Walton, Kieron Womble (15) and Connor Wills (42) were able to rebuild the innings.

The hosts' young seamers proved to be a handful, with Morgan Wareham showing a strong skill set and Barnaby Overton bowling rhythmically and at good pace.

Wareham (4-20) and captain Barker (1-37) closed the innings out well however, picking up four wickets for 28 runs in the last six overs.

Weymouth captain Lloyd Beals says he was impressed with his team’s recovery from last weekend’s defeat to Marnhull despite not quite getting over the line.

“It was a good battle, both teams gave it everything and the game ebbed and flowed.

"It’s obviously disappointing to come out second best but I can’t fault anyone’s effort,” Beals said.

“Not having a specialist fifth bowler was what cost us, ultimately.”

Weymouth return to Redlands in round three to take on Corfe Mullen, who come in off the back of two wins, over Wimborne and Witchampton.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Weymouth Seconds won comfortably in Division Four against Christchurch Seconds.

Dean Janaway scored 68 and Graham Puckett, Cube Whyte and Andy Jarvis took three wickets each to secure a 170-run victory.