PORTLAND RT 188 (6pts) lost to MARNHULL 191-5 (20pts) by five wickets

PORTLAND Red Triangle were sent to a home defeat when Marnhull upset the odds with a five-wicket victory at Reforne.

Marnhull finished fifth in County Division Two last year before gaining promotion under a raft of new changes brought about by the Dorset League’s commitment to ECB Premier cricket.

And they have so far made the most of the opportunity, topping the Division One table after three games.

Faced with the attacking style of Portland, who were asked to bat first in damp conditions, Marnhull withstood a barrage of boundaries early on.

READ MORE: Portland Red Triangle beat Beaminster by 149 runs

Matt Barrett raced to 75 from 45 balls but Marnhull were successful in chipping away around him, Edwin Ralph (3-52) and George Dimmack (3-39) removing the top order.

Barrett was the fourth wicket to fall, bowled by Dimmack, and Marnhull then put the brakes on Portland’s innings.

Veteran left-arm spinner Rick Martin claimed 4-47 as only Ryan Price (31) made a significant contribution thereafter, Portland bowled out for 188.

Marnhull survived the opening spell from Joe Adkins (0-33) and Joel Davey (0-44) but rising star Leon Adkins made the huge breakthrough with the big wicket of James Vitali (16).

Portland’s spinners then came into the game as Matt Randell (2-19) bowled Arthur Dimmack (21).

Marnhull recovered to 97-2 but off-spinner Jack Marsh (1-25) prised out away skipper Ashley Young (19).

Again, the visitors were able to rebuild without fuss as Mike Brown (45) and Angus Brown (23) laid the platform.

Although Randell and Callan Laws (1-17) removed the duo in quick succession, George Dimmack (28no) smashed five boundaries and a six from 20 balls to get Marnhull over the winning line, to Randell’s dismay.

He said: “We look to go out and be positive and we know there’s going to be days where that doesn’t necessarily come off.

“What we probably didn’t do well, that we did do the week before, was just apply ourselves a little bit better.

“Probably, there wasn’t many people who didn’t get themselves out. That was a little disappointing.

“But, on reflection, everyone’s gone out and done what I’ve asked. So, it’s probably just having someone in that middle to just knock it about.

“With ball in hand, we bowled and fielded well but just didn’t have enough runs on the board.”

Portland’s seconds were rained off at Shaftesbury Seconds in Division Five.