BEAMINSTER 178-9 (9pts) lost to WEYMOUTH 274 (19pts) by 96 runs

A WONDERFUL century from Neil Walton helped Weymouth to a 96-run victory over Beaminster, their fourth win on the trot in County Division One.

Walton’s innings of 114 included 14 fours and five sixes, and came from only 80 balls as the Seasiders posted a first innings score of 274 all out. He was the best of the bowlers later on as well, with Weymouth restricting their opponents to 178-9 at the end of their 45 overs.

Weymouth captain Lloyd Beals won the toss and batted on a green wicket, with Beaminster’s bowlers unable to make best use of the new ball as John Wilson attacked and Russ Haylock rotated the strike. 

They put on a 78-run partnership before tall seamer Oliver Hey (1-21) nipped one back past Wilson’s inside edge to end his innings of 42.

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Haylock and new batter Walton looked to continue accumulating, but just before drinks the introduction of spinner Paul Edwards sent Haylock (37) packing with the score at 102-2.

Edwards' success continued after the break, with the young offie picking up the wickets of Mark Gregory, Tim Guyett and Tom England in his spell of 4-33. 

When England was dismissed Weymouth were 182-5, but with Walton on 67 and Beals coming to the crease they remained aggressive. 

The duo put on a 38 in quick time before Ben Padwick held his nerve to take a great boundary catch off the bowling of Simon Jones (3-51) to dismiss the Weymouth skipper. Connor Wills joined Walton and fed him the strike, with the number three bringing up his hundredth run thanks to a misfield on the off-side.

By the time he holed out on the mid-wicket boundary Walton had put his team into the box seat, with the score at 260-7 when he was dismissed. The tail pushed that up to 274 all out, just above a run a ball and a formidable target for the hosts to chase.

Beaminster were circumspect to start their innings, with Chris Park and William Moss battling through the first ten overs. The dot-ball pressure generated by Lloyd Beals and first-team debutant Danish Ahmad (0-32) saw both batters look to attack Walton, who dismissed both of them early in his spell.

The score was 60-2 when Walton caught Moss off his bowling, and without another run being scored Pete Sapsworth picked up the wicket of Jack Handford. Walton (3-23) and Sapsworth (2-18) took another wicket each to further hamstring Beaminster’s chances of chasing down the target as they were reduced to 82-5.

Captain Ross Baker looked to up the rate, top-scoring with 38, but Weymouth’s target would prove a bridge too far as Guyett (2-31), Beals (1-23) and Haylock (1-34) took late wickets to leave the hosts 96 runs behind when their 45 overs came to an end. 

Weymouth captain Lloyd Beals praised the team as a whole and the individual brilliance of Walton in the match.

“I’m not surprised at his (Neil Walton’s) current vein of form. Not many people put as much effort into their all-round game as him.

“To be performing as well as he is with bat and ball takes a huge amount of time and dedication. He’s even taken a few outstanding catches at key moments,” Beals said.

“We didn’t take early wickets but we bowled in the right areas early on. Set a field for the new man Danish and he bowled to it perfectly. It was a great debut for him and I’m excited to see him bowl again.”

The Seasiders will look to go five straight when they battle Portland Red Triangle on Saturday.

“(Our) fielding has to improve drastically. Hopefully Portland are at full strength and it’s a good battle. I’m champing at the bit.”

Elsewhere, Weymouth Seconds lost their perfect record in Division Four as unbeaten Blandford Seconds won by two wickets to go top of the table.

Dorset Trade Skills man of the match: Neil Walton