Dumelow and Woods spin Cheshire closer to victory

By Neil Goulding (Cheshire CCC press officer 07813 859986)

SPIN kings Nathan Dumelow and Danny Woods starred for Cheshire as they gave themselves an excellent chance of victory with one day remaining of their three-day Minor Counties Championship Western Division clash with Dorset in Bournemouth.

Former Derbyshire all-rounder Dumelow (4-71) and promising youngster Woods (3-49) sparkled with the ball as Dorset crumbled from 109-2 overnight to 213 all out at Dean Park, the hosts losing their last eight wickets for just 104 runs.

And with Cheshire having posted a respectable 291-9 in their first innings, that gave the 2005 Minor Counties champions a welcome 78 runs lead.

Skipper Andy Hall then made a patient 55 - adding to his 82 from the first innings - and James Duffy weighed in with an important 53 as Cheshire finished the second day on 182-8 having at one stage been 23-3 and 66-4.

It was Hall and Duffy's important fifth-wicket stand worth 72 in one hour and 20 minutes which helped Cheshire recover from 66-4 to 138-5, with the captain hitting four fours in a 157-ball innings and Duffy crashed six fours and one six in his 87-ball knock.

Debutant Warren Goodwin (23) and Dumelow (21) also chipped in with useful runs as Cheshire ended the second day with a lead of exactly 260.

And with two wickets left, Hall is hoping his side can score some quick runs in the morning to set a target of 300 on the final's day play.

"I'd be really happy with 300, but even if we didn't get that we fancy our chances of bowling Dorset out," said Hall.

"They're a good side and have some very good players, but we bowled them out for 213 in their first innings - and I'm sure our spinners will play a big part on the final day.

"It's been a really good match so far. We've had to get ourselves out of difficult situations - and so have Dorset.

"But if we can score some quick runs on the final day and then take a couple of early wickets, I think we'll be in the driving seat to win the match."

Scorecard:
Cheshire 1st innings: 291-9, 90 overs (A Hall 82, B Spendlove 55, M Dawson 36, W Goodwin 26, N Dumelow 22, T Hicks 6-84)
FOW: 25, 104, 148, 193, 210, 212, 262, 274, 286.

Dorset 1st innings: 213 all out, 74.3 overs (109-2 overnight, 39 overs) - (N Dumelow 4-71, D Woods 3-49, A Syddall 2-56, C Finegan 1-23).
FOW: 14, 18, 110, 139, 175, 175, 176, 204, 204, 213.

Cheshire 2nd innings: 182-8, 77 overs (A Hall 55, J Duffy 53, W Goodwin 23, N Dumelow 21)
FOW: 0, 13, 23, 66, 138, 158, 159, 182.

Points so far (after two days): Cheshire 7pts, Dorset 5pts.

Cheshire team: Andy Hall, Matthew Dawson (Bramhall); Danny Leech, Ben Spendlove, Nathan Dumelow (Oulton Park); Ismail Dawood (Urmston); James Duffy, Danny Woods (Hyde); Warren Goodwin (Chester Boughton Hall); Adam Syddall (Bowdon); Chris Finegan (Neston). 12th man: Chris Davies (Oxton).

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