Dorchester beat Broadstone by six wickets

DORCHESTER closed the gap to Wessex Internet Dorset Premier League leaders Bere Regis with a simple six-wicket victory over Broadstone at Dorchester Rec.

Gautham Rajendar’s team remain unbeaten and, were it not for a 10-point deduction for fielding two unregistered players, would be top of the table.

As it stands, Dorchester are now only 0.5 average points behind Bere having completed the first block of 50-over games.

Attention now turns to the three-week T20 section of the season, where Dorchester will look to continue their devastating form with the ball.

READ MORE: Bere Regis lose to Poole Town by nine runs

Rajendar’s men have been relentless with leather in hand all year, bowling Poole out for 129, Sherborne for 126, champions Wimborne for 134 and now Broadstone for 145.

After winning the toss and fielding first, Dorchester’s Dan Belt (2-25) and Harry Jones (1-18) caused early havoc, reducing Broadstone to 28-3.

Ben Jack (19) and Dan Cook staged a 60-run stand next up but Jack’s demise to Rob Nobbs (1-33) brought about a collapse of 57-7.

Dan Hill (1-20) and Jack Owens (1-13) also struck but Cook remained defiant and registered a gutsy half-century, working the ball around nicely in his 62.

Gautham Rajendar (1-12) and Simon Mitchem (2-13) then polished off the tail, Cook last to fall having hit four boundaries in his knock of resistance.

Dorchester did wobble early in their reply, stumbling to 25-3 as Jack (2-23) and Sonny Eggins (1-27) removed the top three.

However, Will Maltby seized the initiative to record his largest Dorchester innings since moving to the club in the winter.

Alongside Mitchem (34no), he piled on 119 for the fourth wicket and contributed 78 of those runs, including five boundaries and four sixes.

After breezing past 50, he was finally bowled for 80 by Ben Parkin, whose other five legitimate balls cost 18 runs.

Having perished with the finishing line in sight, it was left to Mitchem to crack the winning runs as Dorchester followed their successful blueprint of bowling teams out and chasing a meagre target.

Speaking to Echosport, Rajendar said: “A neat performance from ourselves and maximum points, so no complaints at all.

“I’m very pleased for Willy, we know what he’s capable of with the bat and along with Si, they looked very comfortable out there.

“As a captain, I couldn’t have asked for any more from the first chunk of games.

“We’ve been raising standards on the field and hope we can continue doing the same moving into the T20s and the rest of the season.”

Elsewhere, Dorchester Seconds lost at Broadstone Seconds by four wickets, while the thirds had a bye week. Dorchester Fourths went down at Poole Town Fifths by eight wickets.