TOM Arnold cracked a half-century on his county debut but Dorset had work to do following the first day of their Unicorns Championship opener at Shropshire.

New Milton's Arnold top-scored with an impressive 63 at Whitchurch Cricket Club but former Leicestershire seamer Alex Wyatt (6-69) was a thorn in Dorset's side.

Chris Park's troops trailed by 30 runs at the end of the first day having seen their 185 total surpassed by Shropshire, who reached 215 for the loss of five wickets.

The teams were set to resume battle this morning with James Ralph and David Wainwright on duty for the hosts for the start of the 56th over.

Arnold and Masoor Khan started in solid fashion yesterday and worked their way up to 40 before the latter was trapped leg before by the towering Wyatt.

Josh Digby provided support for Arnold, who edged up to 63, only for Jack McIver to end the debutant's fun.

By then Mike Porter had found his flow and bagged a half-century of his own, the Bashley skipper's knock of 50 increasing to 131 the total in tandem with Luke Webb.

A determined presence, Webb battled gamely on as wickets began to fall with alarming regularity around him.

Webb cracked 28 but was then bowled by Wainwright, who ended with three for 46, and Dorset's lower order offered precious little resistance.

Dorset finished on 185 having been dismissed inside 60 overs.

Shropshire suffered the early loss of Richard Oliver to the bowling of James Hayman but Steve Leach (30) and Joe Carrasco (39) helped them recover to 59 for two.

McIver added 37 before he was dismissed by Mark Wolstenholme, only for James Ralph to work his way to 54, latterly accompanied by the stubborn Wainwright.

Wolstenholme ended the day with figures of two for 50, while Hayman, Jake Lilley and Sam Thomson had a wicket apiece to their names.