BEAMINSTER 182-9 (8pts) lost to BRANKSOME & PARKSTONE 183-6 (19pts) by 4 wickets

A MATCH-WINNING century partnership between Neil Mason and Jackson Sheppard earned the visitors a fifth win of the season in Dorset League Division Two at the Memorial Field.

Beaminster’s opponents seemed to be in trouble when Ross Baker’s 3-48 left them on 74-4 chasing 183 for victory.

But Mason (97 not out) and Sheppard (41) put on 101 and the former was at the crease to see his side home by four wickets.

On a boiling hot summer day, Beaminster, without regular skipper Will Everitt, won the toss and elected to bat first.

Simon Jones (53), inset, continued to make batting look easy, playing some majestic shots while Dan Hillier returned to form by scoring 16 crucial runs.

The middle order struggled against fast bowler James Hardy, who ended his 12-over spell with 4-38.

It looked as though Beaminster would fail to post a competitive total until Wes Lewis (35) and Chris Lamb (21 not out) compiled an excellent late order partnership of exactly 50.

The hosts lost their last three wickets for two runs but saw out the full 45 overs, finishing on 182-9.

Branksome & Parkstone’s reply started positively with skipper Martin Huntley (21) playing some aggressive shots until he was undone by an excellent delivery from Murray Legg (1-26).

When Baker finished his spell the visitors were four down and needed 109 to win, making Beaminster the slight favourites.

However, opener Mason and Sheppard showed their class with the bat as the Beaminster team wilted in the heat.

Branksome & Parkstone reached their target in the 40th over for the loss of six wickets.

Beaminster remain two places off the foot of the table, comfortably ahead of lowly Winton Seconds and one from bottom Bournemouth.

In Division Six, Beaminster Seconds’ nightmare continued as they suffered a massive 270-run hiding at the hands of leaders Chalke Valley.

Batting first, the hosts totalled 340-6 with David Brown top scoring on 90 before being removed by Justin Gurd.

Three other Chalke batsmen scored more than 40 as the bowlers were well and truly put to the sword.

In reply, Beaminster, who were only playing with nine men, were dismissed for just 70, making it nine losses from nine this season.

Opener Dave Penman (32) and Hugh Rathbone (13) were the only players to reach double figures.

This Saturday, the firsts host second-placed Christchurch in the reverse fixture from the opening day of the campaign when Beaminster were thrashed by nine wickets. Meanwhile, the seconds go to Puddletown.