Sherborne

Sherborne: Baker, D

PORTLAND ended their disappointing 2006 season with defeat away at Division One champions Sherborne.

Fielding a much weakened team, the relegated islanders were asked to field first and the home side amassed a formidable 300 in their allotted 45 overs. Opener D Baker was the main contributor with 99, although later in the innings T Waite (84no) and G McKinnonn (59no) shared an unbroken stand of 146 in just 15.2 overs.

For Portland, Sam Polley bowled accurately (1-38) despite a side strain, which much reduced his pace although the pick of the visiting bowlers was Scott Males who picked up 3-47 in his ten-over spell. Young Simon Proffitt, making his first team debut at just 12 years of age, was certainly not overawed and with better catching could have had at least two wickets.

The Triangle reply was looking reasonably placed to claim maximum batting points at 80-2 but with the loss of top scorer David Males, who made 26, the remaining batting collapsed against the accuracy of Clive Saunders and Andy Nurton. In the end, 109 was a disappointing score but reflected the season-long problem of getting batting consistency and runs from the lower order batsmen.

"Sherborne are a good side, and have the winning habit. We were definitely outplayed by the league champions," said Portland captain Simon Barrett. Reflecting upon a frustrating season he added: "This year will go down as one of our worst ever seasons when we have sorely missed several key players. I can't remember having to change our team so much week after week, plus we were never able to put out our strongest side nor did we play the same 11 two weeks in a row!"

"Having said that, however, we suffered from a lack of discipline when bowling and gave away too many boundaries. In addition, we were guilty of giving our wickets away too easily and so all too often failed to post a decent total.

"On the positive side, several younger players have had the opportunity to play first team cricket this year and will benefit from that experience. We are now looking forward to getting some quality practice during the close season so that we are better prepared for 2007, when we aim to be challenging for promotion back into Division One."

Sherborne 20, PRT 3