Wilts CCC draw first championship match against Dorset
Wiltshire’s first Minor Counties Championship match of the season against Dorset at Dean Park, Bournemouth on Sunday/Monday/Tuesday June 3/4/5th ended in a draw after rain washed out the whole of the third day when the match was evenly placed. Wiltshire won the toss and got off to a good start as Ed Kilbee (51) and Richard Underdown (91) put on 95 for the first wicket. When Kilbee was out, Steve Bullen (65) joined Underdown and they put on 121 for the 2nd wicket. Wiltshire continued to score the runs with Joe Breet (40), Henry Langford (30) and Tom Bowler (25 not out) and at the end of their 90 overs had reached 321 for 6 wickets and so missed maximum batting points by 4 runs. For Dorset Tom Hicks took 2 for 84 and Scott Barlow 2 for 124.
Dorset had reached 81 for 2 wickets by the close of the first day. Wiltshire took early wickets on the 2nd day and had reduced Dorset to 119 for 5 wickets when the lower order batsmen began to prosper with a 6th wicket stand of 50 between Jack Leach (33) and Chris Park (50), then Park with Tom Hicks (65 not out) put on 61 for the 7th wicket and Hicks and Ed Denham (37) added 73 for the 8th wicket. Earlier Nick Park had scored 42 and Charlie Esson 34. Wiltshire took 2 late wickets to gain maximum bowling points as Dorset’s innings closed on 312 for 9 wickets. For Wiltshire Tahir Afridi took 2 for 79, Ben Gardner 2 for 32 and Mukesh Bhatt 3 for 83. Wiltshire began their 2nd innings with a lead of 9 and lost early wickets but finished the day on 132 for 5 wickets with Richard Underdown scoring 32 and Henry Langford 46 not out.
Rain had the final say on the 3rd day with no play possible and so the match ended in a draw.
Points Wiltshire 11 Dorset 10.
Wiltshire’s next 2 matches are both at Corsham Cricket Club. They play a friendly 20/20 match against the Royal Navy on Wednesday 13th June starting at 2pm. (Corsham will then play the Royal Navy after the Wiltshire match has finished) and then on Sunday June 17th Wiltshire play Devon also at Corsham in the Quarter Final of the MCCA Trophy Knock Out Cup starting at 11.00am.
Further information from:-
Brian White, Tel 01722-320806 or Mobile 07720-394558
Email: brianwhitewccc@hotmail.com
Or
Neil Shardlow Tel 07801064195
