WEYMOUTH 281-5 (17pts) beat BEAMINSTER 228-4 (7pts) by 53 runs

BEAMINSTER fell to a 53-run defeat against the eventually promoted Weymouth in their final game of the season to seal a sixth-placed finish in County Division Two.

A half-century from Ross Baker and 47 from Ali Crawford were the highlights but could not prevent defeat against a Weymouth side needing a win to stand a chance of promotion.

Beaminster captain Baker elected to bowl after winning the toss and his side initially restricted the hosts to 32-0 from the opening 10 overs.

From there, opening batsmen Paul Collins and Dom Webb punished the visitors with a powerful and controlled display, pushing Weymouth to 193-0 until Collins (83) slashed a loose cover drive to Will Moss off the bowling of Cameron Lucas (1-57).

But 18-year-old Webb (102) continued on and scored a maiden century as Weymouth posted 281-5 courtesy of 47 extras and 22 off 16 balls from Simon Browne.

On an excellent batting surface, Beaminster’s Ali Crawford (47) and Baker (55) also scored with ease.

Shafeek Urumancheri (2-41) bowled tidily to bring his season’s tally to 27, cementing his status as the top wicket-taker in the division.

And Sami Rathnayake (2-37) picked up two wickets, including that of Simon Jones (57), as Weymouth finished the game in style.

Speaking to the News, Baker said: “We had a bit of experience back with Simon and Ali playing. They both looked really good, so we chased well. We were never in with a good chance of winning but we didn’t throw it away, we competed well and protected our wickets, so it’s pleasing.

“It could’ve been over 300 at one point, but once we broke that initial partnership we fought back well.

“There were lots of positives to take this season, we stayed up, which is great. A lot to build on. We know our opposition now, so we know what to expect and we should be able to prepare a little bit better and look for a mid-to-higher finish next year.”