4th Team Match Reports Hants Regional SW3

Bashley (Rydal) 4ths 252-7 v Fawley 3 223-ao

Bashley were invited to bat on a blazing hot day at the BCG and Tom O’Sullivan and Tim Davies made a perfect start, with an opening stand of 136 in just 21 overs, before O’Sullivan was smartly caught and bowled by Coutts for 75. Davies continued to concentrate well, as wickets fell around him, as Bash tried to push onto a really big score. He was eventually out, with 8 overs remaining, for 88 and Bash closed on 252-7, which was slightly disappointing and only about “par for the course” on the day. The best of the Fawley bowlers was skipper Paul Hickman (10-1-33-3). In reply Fawley started at a good pace and with 10 overs left they were 170-3, and favourites to win, with D Godden on 88 and lots of batting to come. However Bash then showed that “catches win matches” as a series of good catches saw 5 wickets fall for 12 runs and the equation change to 66 runs needed in just 6 overs with, crucially, only 2 wickets left. Despite a valiant effort from R Coutts (35) this proved too much for Fawley and they closed in the last over for 223. Looking back Bash held 9 catches, out of 11 chances, which probably made the difference between the sides. Josh Davies held three on the boundary and Josh Scott three behind the stumps. Jack Waller (10-2-34-3) and Alex Kerr (9-1-58-4) were, deservedly, the main beneficiaries with Charlie Banks and Sean Read also picking up wickets. This win gives Bash a fighting chance of securing their place in the league in the second half of the season.

Bashley (Rydal) 4ths 241-3 v Ellingham 2 181

Bashley travelled to Ellingham on Sat for a “basement battle”, as neither side had won this season. They fielded a more experienced side this week and, from the moment they won the toss, it was destined to be their day. Choosing to bat first on an excellent wicket, with a fast outfield, Bashley made a good start at 4 runs an over. Richard King, who “rode his luck” as he was dropped at regular intervals, and Luke Stubbington took the score to 79 in 18 overs before Stubbington (30) picked out Pearson at long on. However Pearson badly split his hand taking the catch and had to leave the field for treatment. Geoff Bettle joined King and they doubled the score in 14 overs before King was finally caught for 82. Tom O’Sullivan (29) and Ryan Taylor (19 no) continued to support Bettle (72 no) as Bash closed on 241-3. In reply Ellingham lost a wicket in the first over when Darren Britton took a stunning one handed catch to dismiss R Sullivan off Jack Waller’s bowling. With Nick Nineham starting with 3 maidens Ellingham were always under pressure. Nineham took two wickets in his 5th over, so when Mike Carter bowled the dangerous Andy Donahue for just 5 Ellingham were 28-4 with 16 overs gone. Further bad luck befell the batting side when Chris Batten “top edged” a sweep into his eye and had to retire with one eye rapidly closing. However N Tyler and C Pearson then started to get Ellingham back in the game, and with 68 needed off the last 6 overs, it was anyone’s game. However the opening bowlers returned to the attack and removed both men to end Ellingham’s resistance. Waller (4-20) and Nineham (3-12), together with John Marsh (2-46), were the pick of the bowlers in a much improved Bashley performance.

Hordle 234-8 v Bashley (Rydal) 4ths 88 ao

Another “tough day at the office” for Bashley saw them well beaten by Hordle. However there were some encouraging signs as they restricted Hordle to 234 on a blazing hot day at the BCG. A number of Hordle batsmen got started, but no one went on to a big score. Steve Booth was brilliantly caught and bowled one handed by Tom O’Sullivan for 30. Later on Pretorious (38) and De St Aubin (36) rallied Hordle from 120-6 with a stand of 62. Joe Larvin bowled a tight spell of 6-1-19-2, and had a hand in Pretorious’s run out, along with Nick Nineham, who bowled his full 10 overs for just 40 runs. Mike Carter bowled a good 6 over spell, but a total of 25 wides and no balls did not help the cause.

In reply Bash got off to a disastrous start with three batsman out without scoring. Young Ryan Taylor then joined Richard King, who continued on from last week by being dropped behind, and they took the score to 56 before King holed out tamely for 17. Taylor then continued to play his shots, and despite being hit twice, picked himself up to continue on to his maiden league 50. However with wickets falling at regular intervals around him Bash only managed to close on 88.

Best of the Hordle bowlers were Jamie Rickard (3-43), Simon Howell (4-22) and Lennox Henry (2-4).

Bashley (Rydal) 4 139-9 v Ringwood 1 279-6

A very young Bashley team travelled to Ringwood for their first game of the season and were given a good idea of how hard the coming season is going to be. However, amongst the “carnage”, there were some promising performances and a great attitude was shown by all in the field. The Ringwood openers got off to a flying start but there were a number of early edges that did not go to hand off the Bashley opening bowlers Tom O’Sullivan and Sean Read. The old maxim of “if you are going to edge then edge hard” certainly worked as C Seymour (56) and L Slater (68) put on 147. Simon Morris kept his leg spinners on a good length, and was not afraid to give the ball a chance to turn. He made the breakthrough having Seymour caught and then bowling Slater with his next ball. Read then clean bowled the Ringwood number 3 so that, all of a sudden, 147-0 became 150-3. However all the remaining batsman scored heavily to see them close on 279-6, with M Brockway making 56. Amongst this Morris (10-0-76-5) took another 3 wickets, including 2 in 2 balls again, helped by an outstanding running catch by Joe Larvin. In reply Neil Pardoe and Richard King got Bash off to a good start before Pardoe (21) was unlucky to middle a shot off his legs straight to a lone fielder. A yard, either side, and it was another boundary. O’Sullivan (23), promoted to number 4, played some fine attacking shots, and with King being dropped twice, Bash were well placed at 95-2. However, straight after drinks, King (38) holed out and Bash then had to settle for batting practice but managed to prevent Ringwood getting full points as they closed on 139-9.