BERE REGIS II 181 (6pts) lost to PUDDLETOWN 262-4 (20pts) by 81 runs

PUDDLETOWN earned their first County Division Two victory of the season after an emphatic batting display set up an 81-run derby success at Bere Regis Seconds.

Puddle skipper Adam Barrett had called for his batters to step up in recent weeks and they duly delivered as Pete Phillips scored a wonderful century and James Mitchell notched a fifty.

Barrett also continued his stellar form with willow and leather this season, recording his own half-century and taking four wickets.

Barrett began by winning the toss and batting first, the Kingfishers piling on the runs in the opening stand.

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Beating Phillips to fifty, Barrett reached 52 with nine fours before Dorset Over-50s spinner Sean Walbridge (1-55) removed him with the score on 110.

Remarkably, that was not to be Puddletown’s biggest partnership of the day.

New batter Mitchell joined Phillips at the crease and the duo plundered 120 together.

Phillips accelerated towards the back end of his innings and brought up a magnificent century full of eye-catching strokeplay, comprised of 12 fours and a six.

He fell for 105 soon after to Garry King (1-28), but Mitchell (59) persisted and brought up a fluent half-century having struck five boundaries and a six.

Mitchell was last man out, bowled by the economical Adam Raymond (1-26), as Puddletown amassed a whopping 262-4.

Bere were always up against it on their home track, notoriously best for batting first on, but they did make a promising start by reaching 53-0.

James Morris (1-41) got the breakthrough as Cleay Perham (21) perished, before a quickfire brace for clever left-arm spinner Rob Snow reduced Bere to 86-3.

Six more wickets fell for just 36 runs as Snow (4-14), Barrett (4-26) and Jamie Edwards (1-22) eroded Bere’s chances of victory.

Home skipper King delayed the celebrations with a defiant 57 not out, scoring 46 of a 59-run partnership for the last wicket with Walbridge (6).

However, Barrett snuck one through Walbridge’s defences to bowl Bere out for 181 and open Puddle’s account in round four.

Speaking to Echosport, Barrett spoke highly of Phillips’ ton.

He said: “We played really well, considering we were late putting the team together.

“We managed to get Pete to play at about seven o’clock on (Friday) night and he’s opened the batting and got a hundred.

“The gods were definitely on our side and James was back with a fifty. It was a really good score on that pitch and the bowlers did well to defend it.

“We’ve struggled to put partnerships together but we were 100-0 at drinks, which set the foundation.”

Puddletown Seconds made it a club double, beating Portland Red Triangle Seconds by six wickets in Division Five as Steve Chaldecott hit 100 not out.