DORCHESTER 155 (5pts) lost to POOLE 226-7 (20pts) by 71 runs

FRUSTRATED Dorchester skipper Simon Mitchem was left to ponder what went wrong as his side let title hopefuls Poole off the hook.

Having bowled first at Poole Park, the county town team had their hosts reeling on 34-5 and must have thought they had a chance of making a short afternoon’s work of the defending league champions.

But Poole roared back and an unbeaten 93 from David Miller, aided with 48 from Tom Robinson, meant the entire complexion of the contest changed.

The home side went on to post 226-7 from their 50 overs, leaving Dorchester with it all to do.

Mitchem was the pick of his side’s attack with 3-35 coming from his 10-over spell. He said: “We had them struggling and for them to get to 226 is hard to take considering we bowled really well early on.

“Miller came out and got 93 and the other lad got 40-odd, it was the same two guys that did it at our place.

“We knew they were more than capable. Dave is a good player and is very hard to get out, a lot of balls went in the air and they just seemed to miss the fielders.

“He batted well but on another day it might have gone our way.

“If we had got them out for between 150 and 180 it would have been a completely different game.”

In reply, Dorchester struggled to get going and Poole’s Joe Wilson ripped through the top order.

He dismissed four of the Dorchester top five on his way to returning a match-winning 5-25. Ian Legg top scored for Dorchester, making 24 from 48 deliveries.

And after the visitors fell 72 runs short of their target, Mitchem voiced his annoyance at the way the game panned out.

He added: “I am very frustrated really. If you go out there chasing 180 it’s around three-and-a-half an over, 220 is just under four-and-a-half.

"I thought we were in the game with the bat but when you lose a couple of wickets the momentum shifts and it was our own downfall.”

Poole’s victory means they are 13 points behind leaders Sherborne in the Premier League table, but Mitchem thinks the current leaders will not be caught. "I think Sherborne are too strong but Poole will probably come second," he said.

Despite their defeat, Dorchester only need to pick up a handful of points against Wimborne & Colehill next week to be assured of safety.