COMPTON HOUSE 250-9 (20pts) beat Bridport 167 (8pts) by 83 runs

A STUNNING spell of bowling from Wes Lewis was still not enough to turn Bridport’s fortunes around at Compton House in Dorset League Division Three.

The talented bowler snared 6-24 off seven overs but by then the damage had already been done thanks to half-centuries from Nick Millard (61), S Wildbur (52) and Rob Dunning (71), which helped the hosts set an imposing target of 250.

Having been bowled out for 103, 104 and 74 in their previous three games, the basement boys clearly required a vast improvement with the willow and thanks to Dom Gape (27), Tom Hayball (21), Will Good (21) and Sam Good (43) they got it but it was still not enough.

Fine bowling, led by the impressive Dunning (4-40), eventually brought Bridport’s innings to a close in the 37th over as Compton chalked up an 83-run victory to move clear of the bottom three.

Losing skipper Mark Smith, whose side now sits 2.48 adrift of safety in the league’s averages, said: “Compton House won the toss and decided to bat, and their openers got off to a flying start. However, I must say, luck is just not on our side at the moment as our opening bowlers performed pretty well with nothing going our way.

“Their batsmen were very aerial with their shots and everything dropped in the gaps and with short boundaries the total soon mounted up.

“Once we got through the top three though, we then started taking successive wickets.

“Dom and I both took good catches and after that we were into them with some great bowling coming from Wes. However, by then, a sizeable but achievable score had already been posted.

“Despite having to change the order a bit to accommodate a knee injury I had picked up our batting was much better this week with Dom, Tom, Will and Sam all putting on good contributions.

“We certainly looked more confident after some disappointing efforts in recent times and it is important we take the positives from that.

“Of course it was disappointing to lose but there were plenty of encouraging signs ahead of this Saturday’s home game against Cattistock.”

With Dave Herbert due to return to the club from Dorchester this week, Smith is adamant his side will turn the corner sooner rather than later.

He went on to add: “If we continue to show the same positive attitude as a team like we did at Compton House, I am sure we will start winning again very soon.”