Hamworthy Rec

Jason Styles

Opening batsman Jason Styles knocked a fine 91 to lead Portland to a five-wicket victory over Hamworthy at Reforne. Despite taking 30 balls to get off the mark, Styles' innings was perfectly paced and it allowed the islanders to pass their target with 1.5 overs to spare.

Home captain Simon Barrett said: "We always felt that Hamworthy's 211 was 20 or 30 runs short of a winning total and in the end it was. With just the four bowlers available, we stuck to the task well. Alex Charlton filled in well as a makeshift opening bowler and his boundary fielding was superb. Unfortunately, two catches were again dropped and this is an area in which we need to improve.

"When we batted, Jason put on a superb knock and showed masterly judgement in which balls to defend and which to attack. Gary Randell and Jon Dixon then hit the ball very well, giving the innings the necessary acceleration to give us a deserved victory."

Hamworthy made a steady start, reaching 60-0 in the 14th over but the next 36 balls saw them pegged back to 74-3. Sean Leadbetter (68) and Mike Tomlinson (55) then added 117 although they were unable to totally dominate especially against the accurate Dixon, who bowled his 12 overs for 33 runs.

When opening bowler Gary Randell returned to the attack, he showed the virtue of bowling straight at the end of an innings and returned figures of 4-54 to limit the visitors to a below-par score of 211-7. In Portland's reply Ross McAuliffe and Dave Dean bowled very accurately, so much so that only 17 runs were scored off the first 11 overs.

Triangle's slow start meant they still needed 122 runs to win by the time they reached the 30th over but crucially only three wickets had been lost. Both Randell, who hit three sixes and a four in his 23-ball 27, and Dixon with 33 in 25 balls gave the innings the required impetus, and with Styles accelerating at just the right time, victory was achieved.

PRT I 18, Hamworthy Rec 7