Branksome

Jan Davey

Portland skipper Simon Barrett was disappointed with the way some of his men recklessly threw away their wickets in this Division Two clash at the Wallisdown Recreation Ground. The hosts reached 65 in just 13 overs before Red Triangle gallantly fought back to restrict them to 213-7.

That target was still always going to be difficult to chase down but the visitors built a platform of 60-1 after 20 overs and seemed well placed to accelerate towards their target. However, the introduction of slower bowlers, notably leg-spinner Ian Broom (5-34), soon had Red Triangle reeling on a deteriorating surface. In the end the islanders collapsed to 131 all out in the 41st over with their last six batsmen in the mid-lower order managing just 10 runs between them.

Barrett said: "We allowed Branksome to score 30 too many at the end of their innings having fought back well after their good start. Then when we batted, the pitch certainly seemed more challenging but even allowing for that a few of our batsmen simply did not put enough value on their wickets and were dismissed playing reckless strokes.

"On the positive side, Elliott Sawyer (20) spent some good time at the crease, Martin Hewson took three catches and fielded superbly and Jan Davey (4-38) bowled the best he has done all season. Next Saturday we are back home at Reforne, where we need to bounce back with a good performance against Ferndown."

Opening pair Purnell (66) and Bridle (31) did the early damage for Branksome but the introduction of Davey soon put paid to the onslaught. The left-arm spinner grabbed the key wickets of both openers and Portland soon began to put pressure on the home side's middle order with Jon Dixon (1-49) and Alex Charlton (2-62) also finding breakthroughs.

Number three S Tubbs added a useful 26 but it was the lower-order contributions of Broom (17), Spencer (32 not out), and Daly (11 not out) that bumped Branksome's total up past the 200 mark.

Portland started their reply patiently with Jason Styles (40), Davey (13) and Elliot Sawyer (20) all producing solid knocks. Gary Randell then tried to accelerate the innings but when he went for 33 the visitors sunk rapidly losing their last seven wickets for a mere 47 runs. Daly (1-30), Bridle (1-26) and S Tubbs (2-4) were Branksome's other wicket-takers.

Branksome 20, PRT 6