Herefordshire miss out in tight finish against Dorset

Chris Boroughs is looking for a mid-table finish for Herefordshire

Herefordshire slipped to a narrow three-wicket defeat in their Minor Counties Championship match against Dorset at Bournemouth.

Scores of 230 and 232 proved to be losing totals for the visitors.

Skipper Chris Boroughs said: "It's harsh to criticise the lower order as it's the top order that didn't really fire in either innings.

"We had a great start in the first innings in reaching 75-0 and to then get bowled out for 230 was criminal."

After winning the toss and electing to bat Herefordshire got off to a solid start with David Exhall (61) anchoring the innings.

But from 106-1 they fell away to be bowled out for a disappointing 230 although their bowlers responded well as Dorset were reduced to 179-7 in reply.

The target is to finish mid-table and then hopefully that will breed confidence for next year

Herefordshire skipper Chris Boroughs

The Dorset lower order did well to get the home side up to 320 all out for a useful first-innings lead of 90.

Chris Boroughs led from the front in the Herefordshire second innings as he top-scored with 75 but they could muster only 232 to leave the home side needing 143 to win.

Spinner Jack Leach bowled particularly well for Dorset returning match figures of 13-148.

Dorset's run chase was not without its problems as they slipped to 65-6 but wicketkeeper Chris Park made a vital 49 not out to steer his side through to a three-wicket victory.

Despite the defeat, Boroughs felt there were plenty of plus points to take from this Herefordshire performance.

"There are certainly areas for improvement as we didn't bat as well as we could have done," he told BBC Hereford and Worcester.

"But we have come very close to winning and certainly in the first innings we bowled very well without any luck."

After the win over Devon at Eastnor and a close-run battle at Dorset, Boroughs feels there are genuine grounds for optimism for the remaining two Championship matches of the season.

"The target is to finish mid-table and then hopefully that will breed confidence for next year," he said.

"Then guys who have come into the side this year can start to build on that and we can push forward in the future.

"Then we can hopefully start to look up the table rather than down it."