SWANAGE 119 (0pts) lost to MARTINSTOWN 171-4 (2pts) by 52 runs & SWANAGE 162-8 (2pts) beat MARTINSTOWN 159-7 (0pts) by two wickets

MARTINSTOWN earned their first T20 win of the season but could not draw level on points with Swanage as the hosts maintained their hopes of winning the South West group.

Learning from last weekend, when Bere Regis won both games after batting first, Martinstown went hard with the bat despite losing the toss in the opening rubber.

Swanage’s decision to bowl backfired as Ry Gerety (44) and Sean Williams (23) repaired the early damage done by the departure of Fraser Hill (2).

Martinstown then accelerated in the final 10 overs as Finlay Williams crashed a blistering 38 not out from 21 balls, including three fours and two sixes, while Henry Lewis made 35 from 24.

READ MORE: Bere Regis beat Martinstown twice in T20s

Aided by 21 extras, the visitors posted 171-4 from their 20 overs.

Last weekend’s star Swan, Mike Salmon, could not repeat the heroics of his amazing 139 but he did make a dent in the chase with 26 from only 14 balls, all coming in boundaries, before he fended Finlay Williams (1-17) to Gerety.

Martinstown continued to make inroads with regular wickets, helped by frequently disrupting the Swanage momentum with tight bowling.

Durant was the main beneficiary, slicing through the middle order with a fine 3-24, while Hill (2-19) and George Chaffey (2-26) also contributed in dismissing Swanage for only 119.

Martinstown again batted first in the second T20, this time after winning the toss, and mixed up their batting order as Lewis replaced Hill as opener.

He responded with 38 from 26 balls, while Sean Williams continued his return to form with a welcome 32, together with 23 from brother Finlay.

Swanage bowled more tidily this time round, with Salmon (2-26) and Ryan Stearn (2-25) rewarded for their efforts in restricting Town to 159-7.

Martinstown thought they had worked themselves into a winning position as Swanage required 50 from the final four overs following excellent work by Durant (2-18), Fin Williams (2-41) and Hill (2-26).

But Dan Salmon had other ideas, surviving a dropped catch to crunch 39 not out from 22 balls, along with 19 in 12 by Charlie Dyke, to wrestle the victory away on the penultimate ball.

Speaking to Echosport, Durant said of the victory: “We batted well and everyone got starts.

“It was nice to bowl a team out because we haven’t done that since the opening day of the season. Pretty much everyone bowled well.”

On the second T20, he added: “We didn’t do much differently, they applied themselves better in their run chase, didn’t lose as regular wickets and ended up getting over the line.

“We were defending 50 off the last four and the last four were a little poor from us. The bowlers know they didn’t bowl particularly well.

“But we learn from it and go again next week.”

Martinstown Seconds beat Cheselbourne by eight wickets on the DLS method in County Division Four.