Bowled, dismissed in contest (4)
I believe the answer is:
bout
'contest' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'bowled dismissed' is the wordplay.
'bowled' becomes 'b' (cricket abbreviation).
'dismissed' becomes 'out' (I've seen this before).
'b'+'out'='BOUT'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for bout that I've seen before include "Spell; contest" , "Contest; illness episode" , "Attack (of illness)" , "Wrestling contest" , "Fight; instance of illness" .)