POOLE THIRDS 215-6 (20pts) beat BEAMINSTER 145 (5pts) by 70 runs

TROUBLES with the bat meant that Beaminster succumbed to another defeat in County Division Three, falling 70 runs short of the total set by visitors Poole Thirds.

Batting first, the Poole openers managed to negotiate the early overs despite being given a number of let-offs.

Both Beaminster opening bowlers Simon Jones and Ross Baker caused problems but, crucially, opportunities were missed by the Memorial Playing Field outfit, as three simple catching chances were missed in the field.

Poole’s total was built around opener J Hai, who scored a composed 73 as the Poole innings closed on 215-6, setting the hosts a target of 216 for victory.

The six wickets claimed were shared among the Beaminster bowlers, with the highlight being debutant Gavin Gay’s two wickets in two balls in a bid to rock the visitors.

There were also wickets for Francis Medley (1-25), Aidey Phillips (2-66) and Baker was economical in his figures, returning 1-23 from his nine overs bowled.

With the bat, the Beaminster reply started poorly and they struggled to recover as both openers in Rich Runyard and Hugh Rathbone were dismissed cheaply.

The middle order comprising of Jones (50), Gay (10) and Baker (39) fought valiantly to stage a recovery but wickets continued to fall regularly at the other end.

No other batsmen recorded double figures as the Beaminster innings closed on 145 after 34.2 overs when Nick Hollely was forced to retire hurt with a knee problem.

The pick of the bowlers for Poole was J Allen, who claimed 3-30 from his seven overs.

Backing him up in the attack was opening bowler Zeshan (2-19) and P MacDermid (2-20).

The result means Beaminster lie sixth in the division, still six points ahead of Poole with three wins coming from their opening seven games.

Stalbridge Seconds top the pile with a haul of 125 points, two clear of Ashmore, who racked up 355-8 on their way to beating Wimborne & Colehill Thirds.

Dorchester Seconds sit third in the standings after they totalled a mammoth 332-5 on the way to beating bottom side Wareham, who are yet to win a game so far.

Weymouth Seconds are now bottom of the pile as they were forced to scratch their clash with Stalbridge.

Meanwhile, in County Division Six, Beaminster Seconds lost to league leaders Bere Regis Seconds.