BEAMINSTER 131 (7pts) lost to CATTISTOCK 208 (20pts) by 77 runs

BEAMINSTER suffered an opening day defeat at the hands of Cattistock at the Memorial Playing Field.

Having won the toss and elected to field first, tight bowling in good areas from openers Aidey Phillips and Ross Baker meant visitors Cattistock struggled to score runs but managed to keep wickets in hand.

After the first 20 overs, Cattistock found themselves on 62-2 with one wicket each for the opening bowlers.

Leg-spinner Jack Walklett then came into the Beaminster attack and bowled with great control to snare two wickets in the middle overs.

However Cattistock’s Brad Damen then played aggressively and smashed the ball to all parts of the ground.

With wickets in hand Cattistock then accelerated their run rate and scored heavily off of the Beaminster spinners.

Simon Jones (3-22) and David Percy (2-10) took vital wickets but the damage had already been done as Cattistock closed their innings on 208 all out.

In reply, Jones and Dan Hillier negotiated the opening bowlers comfortably and took the score up to 41 before Hillier was bowled for 19.

However, the rest of the Beaminster batsmen struggled, particularly when Jones was dismissed for 32.

Only skipper Rich Runyard (23) managed a respectable score as the Beaminster innings closed on 131 and the hosts succumbed to a 77-run defeat.