Portland Red Triangle returned to winning ways in the NSA Dorset Division One with a 4-wicket victory over Wayfarers at Reforne.

Dave Blackman’s superb century laid the foundations for the Triangle run chase after Wayfarers posted an imposing total of 251-7 on a good batting track. Blackman notched up his first career ton hitting 15 fours in a 116 minute stay at the crease under the blazing Portland sun.

After winning the toss, the visitors elected to make first use of the wicket and scored runs freely knocking 44 runs off the first 7 overs, as Triangle skipper John Ryan took the brunt of the punishment.

The removal of opener Phil Williams (40) brought the hard-hitting Matt Stacey to the middle, who scored the majority of his 56 runs in boundaries and shared some useful partnerships with Hornby (20) and Brian Rippingale (51). With the exception of Gary Randell, all bowlers suffered on the slow Reforne strip as the islanders began to wilt in the heat, though not helped by some sloppy fielding and numerous dropped catches.

Triangle began their run chase at an electric pace as opener Hayden White blasted a quick 42 off 32 balls sharing in an 82 run partnership with centurion Blackman. First change bowler Sellars (3-49) then made short work of the islanders’ middle order as Jan Davey, Ben Doidge, Jon Dixon and Ryan all came and went without troubling the scorers.

Veteran Gary Randell joined Blackman briefly before a mix-up over an attempted quick single led to Dave’s demise. With Jason Styles (22 no), Randell (47 no) guided Triangle to victory with a barrage of boundaries as they reached the target with nearly two overs to spare.