BOURNEMOUTH skipper Chris Park saw his side crash from the brink of victory to a one-wicket defeat against the Hampshire Academy, who rallied from 55-9 to edge past the Lions’ 111 all out to win a rain-cut 45-over affair at Newclose.
Ed Denham (4-13) and off-spinner Robbie Pack (3-23) appeared to have bowled Bournemouth to an improbable victory, but a dramatic twist in the tail saw the Academy’s tenth wicket pair turn the match on its head.
Monaam Abbas (22 not out) and Hampshire’s island-raised head of player development Charlie Freeston (29 not out) guided the hosts to their victory target, with an unbroken stand of 60.
The Bournemouth wicketkeeper skipper, who was also guilty of dropping a catch with Hampshire nine down, said: “It about sums up our luck at the moment, it really does. At tea, nobody even thought about winning. Getting Hampshire Academy 55-9 was an incredible turnaround.
“We just couldn’t get the last wicket. Ninety-nine times out of 100 the bowling side would win that.
“When you can see the scoreboard saying 55-9, you do just think it’s a matter of time. Unfortunately, mother cricket bit us on the backside again.
“In the whole innings we dropped seven catches. I dropped a catch off Rob Pack’s last over which would have won us the game.
“It was just one of those games where you see the scoreboard total tick down. I just kept thinking ‘not again, please’. We just needed that little bit of luck and it just never came back to us.
“The ferry ride on the way home was very subdued and I was just gutted for the lads that we couldn’t get that wicket and tonic we needed to kick on for the rest of the season.”
Pardoe pounces
Wicketkeeper-batsman Park (28) had earlier joint top-scored for Bournemouth with second team captain Jonny Coombs (28) and Simon Woodruff (23) the only others to reach double figures.
Bournemouth lost four of their top six batsmen to spin – Abbas (2-32) and Tom Prest (2-33) creating inroads – before Bashley (Rydal) product George Pardoe ripped into the lower order to finish with an SPL best 5-21 return.
Canford prospect Prest got the highest individual score of the game, holding Bournemouth at bay for long periods with a resolute 29 before becoming the third of Denham’s four victims at 53-6.
Two runs later Abbas and Freeston, above left, who was a decent batting all-rounder in his playing days, began their unlikely tenth-wicket stand, which doubled the Academy total and led to the county youngsters pulling off the result of the season so far in the ECB Southern Premier Division.
Park admitted his Bournemouth side, as a collective unit, should have done better with the bat.
“The Newclose pitch was unbelievably good – it was the best surface we will probably play on all year. For us to get bowled out for 111 was just not good enough,” he added. “There were too many batsmen giving their wickets away cheaply and playing poor shots – me included.”
Defeat meant Bournemouth remained second-from-bottom of the table. Lions have lost four of their five completed games this season.
Ed Denham (4-13) and off-spinner Robbie Pack (3-23) appeared to have bowled Bournemouth to an improbable victory, but a dramatic twist in the tail saw the Academy’s tenth wicket pair turn the match on its head.
Monaam Abbas (22 not out) and Hampshire’s island-raised head of player development Charlie Freeston (29 not out) guided the hosts to their victory target, with an unbroken stand of 60.
The Bournemouth wicketkeeper skipper, who was also guilty of dropping a catch with Hampshire nine down, said: “It about sums up our luck at the moment, it really does. At tea, nobody even thought about winning. Getting Hampshire Academy 55-9 was an incredible turnaround.
“We just couldn’t get the last wicket. Ninety-nine times out of 100 the bowling side would win that.
“When you can see the scoreboard saying 55-9, you do just think it’s a matter of time. Unfortunately, mother cricket bit us on the backside again.
“In the whole innings we dropped seven catches. I dropped a catch off Rob Pack’s last over which would have won us the game.
“It was just one of those games where you see the scoreboard total tick down. I just kept thinking ‘not again, please’. We just needed that little bit of luck and it just never came back to us.
“The ferry ride on the way home was very subdued and I was just gutted for the lads that we couldn’t get that wicket and tonic we needed to kick on for the rest of the season.”
Pardoe pounces
Wicketkeeper-batsman Park (28) had earlier joint top-scored for Bournemouth with second team captain Jonny Coombs (28) and Simon Woodruff (23) the only others to reach double figures.
Bournemouth lost four of their top six batsmen to spin – Abbas (2-32) and Tom Prest (2-33) creating inroads – before Bashley (Rydal) product George Pardoe ripped into the lower order to finish with an SPL best 5-21 return.
Canford prospect Prest got the highest individual score of the game, holding Bournemouth at bay for long periods with a resolute 29 before becoming the third of Denham’s four victims at 53-6.
Two runs later Abbas and Freeston, above left, who was a decent batting all-rounder in his playing days, began their unlikely tenth-wicket stand, which doubled the Academy total and led to the county youngsters pulling off the result of the season so far in the ECB Southern Premier Division.
Park admitted his Bournemouth side, as a collective unit, should have done better with the bat.
“The Newclose pitch was unbelievably good – it was the best surface we will probably play on all year. For us to get bowled out for 111 was just not good enough,” he added. “There were too many batsmen giving their wickets away cheaply and playing poor shots – me included.”
Defeat meant Bournemouth remained second-from-bottom of the table. Lions have lost four of their five completed games this season.