HARTLEY Wintney captain Jamie Teale has delivered a scathing assessment of Basingstoke and North Hants’ team ahead of tomorrow's game between the sides.
The Bountymen sit third in the Southern Electric Premier Division One table, in touch with the leaders, but Teale insists that his side have little to fear when the teams meet on the village green, describing Basingstoke’s batting as “fragile” and their bowling attack as “easy”.
“I don’t think that Basingstoke have a really strong team,” Teale said. “We nearly beat them at their place and their batting has looked fragile in recent weeks.
“If I win the toss, I will be putting them in to bat. We know what is a good target on our ground and anything up to 350 can be chased.
“When we bat, we will look to attack Martyn James. If we can get him out of his rhythm then the rest of the bowling is pretty easy.”
Hartley only lost by two wickets when the sides met at May’s Bounty on the opening day of the season and the village side eased their relegation concerns last week, beating Andover by seven wickets to move up to seventh in the table.
Australian Wivell made 116 from 131 balls, hitting 13 fours and three sixes, while Jack Hersh made 80 as Hartley won with 11 balls to spare.
Teale said: “It really was crunch time for us after losing three on the bounce. It was crucial that we won, and we won in style.”
Basingstoke and North Hants captain Chris Froud insists that his side cannot afford to take local rivals Hartley Wintney lightly. The Bountymen are one of three sides vying for the title at the halfway stage of the season, while Hartley are battling to avoid getting drawn into a relegation dogfight.
However, the village side showed that they are capable of beating the top teams by defeating table-topping Hook and Newnham Basics earlier in the season. They also ran Basingstoke close when the sides met on the first day of the season, losing by just two wickets, so Froud is not expecting an easy afternoon.
"We know that it will be tough because Hartley can beat anybody on their day," he said. "They are a bit inconsistent, so we will be hoping that we get them on a day when they're not so good.
"We are confident in our bowling, so we just need to focus on batting well. If we can do that, we will win most games."
The Bountymen will be boosted by the return of all-rounder Graham Porter, who has been missing for several weeks.
"Graham's pace gives us a different dimension with the ball," Froud added. "We will be glad to have him back and he will make a difference."
Last weekend, Basingstoke kept up the pressure on the top two in the table with a 77-run victory away at struggling Calmore Sports.
Basingstoke's troubles with the bat continued as they were restricted to 202-9 from their 50 overs.
Plenty of batsmen got starts, with five reaching 20, but the highest scorer was number nine Chris Chandler, who made 38 from 20 balls and put on 65 for the eighth wicket with Bradley Neal (31).
The Bountymen had looked in serious trouble at 131-7, but Chandler and Neal's partnership ensured that they batted out their overs and set a target over 200.
Basingstoke had failed to defend a similar total at home to Bournemouth the previous week and Calmore were on course for victory at one stage, reaching 102-3.
However, off-spinner Matt Thankachan had other ideas, taking the remaining seven wickets for just six runs as the hosts collapsed in spectacular fashion, eventually being bowled out for 125.
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Froud said: "It looked like it might not be our day, but things changed very quickly when Matt came on. He bowled really well and turned the game on its head.
"We made a concerted effort to make sure we batted for long periods of time, but it just didn't quite happen for us. There were a few strange dismissals and we were a bit unlucky at times, but the signs were a bit better."
The Bountymen sit third in the Southern Electric Premier Division One table, in touch with the leaders, but Teale insists that his side have little to fear when the teams meet on the village green, describing Basingstoke’s batting as “fragile” and their bowling attack as “easy”.
“I don’t think that Basingstoke have a really strong team,” Teale said. “We nearly beat them at their place and their batting has looked fragile in recent weeks.
“If I win the toss, I will be putting them in to bat. We know what is a good target on our ground and anything up to 350 can be chased.
“When we bat, we will look to attack Martyn James. If we can get him out of his rhythm then the rest of the bowling is pretty easy.”
Hartley only lost by two wickets when the sides met at May’s Bounty on the opening day of the season and the village side eased their relegation concerns last week, beating Andover by seven wickets to move up to seventh in the table.
Australian Wivell made 116 from 131 balls, hitting 13 fours and three sixes, while Jack Hersh made 80 as Hartley won with 11 balls to spare.
Teale said: “It really was crunch time for us after losing three on the bounce. It was crucial that we won, and we won in style.”
Basingstoke and North Hants captain Chris Froud insists that his side cannot afford to take local rivals Hartley Wintney lightly. The Bountymen are one of three sides vying for the title at the halfway stage of the season, while Hartley are battling to avoid getting drawn into a relegation dogfight.
However, the village side showed that they are capable of beating the top teams by defeating table-topping Hook and Newnham Basics earlier in the season. They also ran Basingstoke close when the sides met on the first day of the season, losing by just two wickets, so Froud is not expecting an easy afternoon.
"We know that it will be tough because Hartley can beat anybody on their day," he said. "They are a bit inconsistent, so we will be hoping that we get them on a day when they're not so good.
"We are confident in our bowling, so we just need to focus on batting well. If we can do that, we will win most games."
The Bountymen will be boosted by the return of all-rounder Graham Porter, who has been missing for several weeks.
"Graham's pace gives us a different dimension with the ball," Froud added. "We will be glad to have him back and he will make a difference."
Last weekend, Basingstoke kept up the pressure on the top two in the table with a 77-run victory away at struggling Calmore Sports.
Basingstoke's troubles with the bat continued as they were restricted to 202-9 from their 50 overs.
Plenty of batsmen got starts, with five reaching 20, but the highest scorer was number nine Chris Chandler, who made 38 from 20 balls and put on 65 for the eighth wicket with Bradley Neal (31).
The Bountymen had looked in serious trouble at 131-7, but Chandler and Neal's partnership ensured that they batted out their overs and set a target over 200.
Basingstoke had failed to defend a similar total at home to Bournemouth the previous week and Calmore were on course for victory at one stage, reaching 102-3.
However, off-spinner Matt Thankachan had other ideas, taking the remaining seven wickets for just six runs as the hosts collapsed in spectacular fashion, eventually being bowled out for 125.
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Froud said: "It looked like it might not be our day, but things changed very quickly when Matt came on. He bowled really well and turned the game on its head.
"We made a concerted effort to make sure we batted for long periods of time, but it just didn't quite happen for us. There were a few strange dismissals and we were a bit unlucky at times, but the signs were a bit better."