WAREHAM 213-6 (20pts) beat BRIDPORT 107 (4pts) by 106 runs

BRIDPORT'S string of wins came to an end on Saturday with a comprehensive defeat to a well-balanced Wareham side.

Choosing to bowl first on a lively pitch, Bridport’s bowlers produced several miserly, if not incisive, spells of bowling to restrict an in-form Wareham batting order for much of their innings.

Sam Challis was consistent in his 10-over spell, with openers Liam Toohill and Ollie Lee ret-urning for second spells at the death to snag some Wareham wickets.

However, clean hitting from the Wareham middle order in the final 10 overs of their innings bolstered their steady total to ensure Bridport had some work to do with the bat if they were to maintain their winning form.

Bridport’s innings got off to a slow start due to some tight Wareham bowling, which was compounded by the increasingly uneven bounce of a deteriorating pitch.

With Bridport’s top four quickly falling victim to this combination it was left to the middle order to increase the run-rate and get Bridport back in the match.

Aggressive knocks by captain Duane Gay and his father Rod, with some capable support from Cerne Iveson and Paul Stoneley, briefly gave Bridport cause for optimism but several more overs of accurate bowling proved to be too much for the remaining Bridport batsmen.

Of his lusty batting performance, Gay said: “I saw that the approach of our top order hadn’t brought success so decided to be positive and punish the rare bad balls that were bowled. Rod was great backup taking a similar tack but, in the end, Wareham’s bowling was too good for us.”

While the captain’s time at the crease was a high point for Bridport, Gay admitted of his team’s performance: “Our bowling was steady but average to hold them to 213 and we did not bat anywhere near our best. On the day we got beaten by a much stronger team.”

Nonetheless, Gay has vowed that Bridport will rectify this result when they travel to Poole on Saturday, adding: “We will do our best to put it right this week.”