BRIPORT 57 (5pts) lost to WINTON SECONDS 149 (18pts) by 92 runs

LIAM Toohill was left with much to ponder after his men suffered a dismal opening-day defeat against Winton Seconds in Division Three.

The new Bridport skipper (2-32), with help from the impressive Marcel Grunschloss (6-47), helped skittle the visitors for 149 but poor batting after tea saw his side’s run chase fall woefully short.

Reflecting on the performance, Toohill said: “I won the toss and chose to bowl first on a damp wicket.

“We restricted them well for the first 12 overs, off which they only scored 17 runs for the loss of one wicket, which was down to a superb one-handed catch by Toby Hall.

“Wes Lewis bowled a tight opening spell and I took 2-22 in my eight-over spell.

“Some poor fielding and dropped catches let us down in the first 22 overs although that did improve after drinks.

“The first change bowlers of Marcel and Dave Herbert kept the run-rate down and we had a quick run of three wickets to leave them on 96-6.

“However, a partnership of 33 shifted the momentum back in their favour.

“I was pleased by the perseverance of Marcel and the returning Wes, who both wrapped up the final four wickets to give us maximum bowling points.

“We were confident of getting close to their total of 149 but knew we would have to apply ourselves on what could be a tricky pitch.

“After I was out in the third over, Dave Herbert and Rob Condliffe batted well to take the score up to 20-1.

“However, when Rob went for four, we lost another two wickets within nine runs.

“Luke King and Wes batted well but when Dave was the sixth man out we lost our last four wickets for just 10 runs.

“We were under prepared with our batting, as we haven't been able to net or train in the last four weeks due to the weather. This also showed in our fielding, as dropped catches and misfields cost us runs.

“Overall, it was good to get out and get a game on a grass wicket and we haven’t lost any ground in the league as we are level with all the teams that were called off.

“We definitely missed Ash Nicholls. He picked up an injury last Thursday night and could be out for three weeks.”

A Praoline (38), C New (4-19) and C Archer (3-2) were the standout performers for Winton but Bridport can still take positives from their display ahead of this Saturday’s trip to Cattistock.