A SUBLIME century from Mark House put Wimborne in the driving seat to land the Dorset Funeral Plan Premier Division title.

The Minstermen’s star batsman delivered with 108 from 119 deliveries to help his side beat Sherborne by 94 runs at the Leaze.

Their victory, coupled with Poole Town losing at Dorchester, meant Wimborne opened up an eight-point gap at the summit.

Having won the toss and elected to bat first, House was in early after the loss of opener Colin Randall (3).

He set to work alongside James Miller (40) as the pair guided the hosts to 89 for one with a stand of 84.

Despite Miller falling to the bowling of Sherborne’s Mark Hancock (1-44) House continued to push his side to a highly-competitive first-innings total.

He was eventually dismissed with the score on 217, with skipper Tom Caines striking an unbeaten 59 from 58 deliveries to help Wimborne post 276 for six from their 50 overs.

With Sherborne chasing a revised target of 222 from 33 overs due to rain, the hosts did a professional job of keeping them well below the scoring rate.

None of the Wimborne bowlers went for more than 40 runs individually, with Harry Prince (2-36) doing the most damage in the wickets column.

Harrison Bowles (1-28), Ed Bartlett (1-18), George Bartlett (1-9) and Frank Turrell (1-19) also claimed victims.

Sherborne’s Emlyn Kuhn top scored with 30 as the visitors could only muster 128 for eight from their allotted overs.

Dorchester are now the Minstermen’s nearest title rivals after they overcame Poole in a rain-hit encounter at Dorchester Rec.

The visitors were bowled out for a miserly 157 before the county town side knocked off their revised victory target of 85 for the loss of just two wickets.

Having lost the toss and been asked to bat first, Poole found themselves in deep trouble at 90 for six following the departure of skipper David Miller (14).

Some lower order resistance from Ian Musselwhite (32) and Joe Wormington (24) helped Dolphins dig in before they were eventually bowled out with nine deliveries remaining.

All-rounder Badrul Alam (37) top scored at the top of the order for Poole, while Dorchester’s Josh Richardson (4-22) was the pick of the bowlers.

Chasing a reduced total due to the weather, the hosts set a solid platform with a 54-run stand between Will Caldwell (31*) and Dan Morris (28).

Despite Wormington (1-8) and James Kirk (1-24) claiming a wicket apiece, Dorchester reached 86 for two in just more than 23 overs.

Defeat meant Poole slipped 16 points behind the league leaders and eight behind Dorchester.

Wimborne visit Stalbridge on Saturday, looking for their 12th victory of the campaign.

Poole make the trip to struggling Swanage (all 1pm).