CATTISTOCK & SYMENE II 335-6 (20pts) beat PORTLAND RT II 44 (3pts) by 291 runs

LEO Gurd scored his maiden ton for Cattistock & Symene Seconds in a mammoth 291-run victory over a young Portland Red Triangle Seconds at Symondsbury.

The Foxes remain unbeaten and stay top of County Division Four, but huge credit must go to the Portland youngsters who bravely battled throughout the game.

With six regular players unavailable including captain Sam Good, Wes Lewis stepped in to lead the Foxes.

The home team batted first and lost Lewis (4) early on before Luke King was joined by Leo Gurd at the crease and kicked started the innings.

King was typically destructive in his stroke play as they raced to 57-1 off eight overs.

King passed his 50 soon after and was eventually dismissed for 83, of which 74 runs were made in boundaries alone, including 11 fours and five maximums.

Reuben Kingston joined Gurd in the middle, the latter beginning to find his feet and the boundary.

READ MORE: Foxes fall as Poole prevail

At the halfway point the Foxes had reached 148 with Gurd going to his 50. Kingston also reached his 50 before being dismissed by a catch on the boundary for 69, his innings containing 12 boundaries.

Gurd continued to bat on, marching towards his century, supported by a cameo of 25 from Ollie Legg. The score passed 200 and Gurd went to his superb maiden hundred.

Along with Brad Mullins (21no) they propelled the Foxes to a mammoth 335-6, Gurd carrying his bat for 121 not out, an innings comprised of 10 boundaries and four sixes.

Defending their total, Lewis tossed the new ball to Ethan Robertson and Graham Bartlett and was rewarded with five wickets from his opening bowlers.

The pace of Robertson claiming 2-8 and the spin of Bartlett taking 3-8. Luke Sibley was the next to get in on the action, striking first ball thanks to a smart catch from Legg.

With the score on 18-6 Legg was introduced and wrapped up proceedings, taking 4-4 inside four overs to dismiss the visitors for 44.

This was a vital victory for the Foxes as their nearest rivals, Poole Town and Bere Regis, both had their games cancelled, meaning they now hold a 19-point gap at the top.

Skipper for the day, Lewis, said: “Portland brought a young side down and credit to them they gave it their all and didn’t give up.

“Luke, Leo and Reuben batted brilliantly, it was great to see Leo get his first century for the club.”

CATTISTOCK & SYMENE III 144 (5pts) lost to MARNHULL III 146-5 (20pts) by five wickets

CATTISTOCK & Symene Thirds suffered a five-wicket defeat to Marnhull Thirds in their County Division Five North & West clash at Cattistock.

Now under the leadership of Justin Gurd, the Foxes batted first but were soon in trouble at 0-4, which then became 3-5 as Ollie Boxall joined opener Louis Partridge at the crease.

They stopped the slide and got the scoreboard going, their partnership passed 50 and had risen to 82 when Partridge was dismissed for a well made 38 runs including seven boundaries. Boxall fell just short of his half-century, caught for 47.

Further runs down the order from Ollie James (29) got the Foxes to 144 when the final wicket fell.

Special credit must go to Marnhull’s Sam Barnes who took seven wickets for just five runs.

James (1-30) carried his momentum into his new ball spell, claiming the first wicket.

Although the home team were made to work hard for the next wicket as over 60 runs were put on for the second wicket as Nicholas Chambers scored 36.

Boxall claimed 1-29 and Jack Bartlett 3-39 before the away team reached their target, Dom Salzano (13no) and Barnes (10no) finishing unbeaten.

Captain Gurd said: “Louis and Ollie showed brilliant character to recover from our poor start with the bat. We bowled well but needed to take more wickets earlier, we just didn’t have enough runs on the board unfortunately.

“Special mention to young Jack Bartlett with the ball, I thought he bowled excellently given our total. Overall, it feels like we are making good strides in the right direction.”

After a bye weekend, the Foxes’ first team return on Saturday (1pm) at home to Bere Regis in the Dorset Funeral Plan Premier League.