Hook & Newnham Basics ended the season with four straight wins and six in seven.
Hook & Newnham Basics’ maiden season in the ECB Southern Premier Division has ended in championship style form, with six wins from the last seven matches wiping away memories of the survival struggle that preceded that sequence of results.
For two-thirds of the season, Hook were fighting a relegation battle with Alton, but once they beat the Brewers in a rain affected round 13 affair, Josh Buckingham’s side rarely put a foot wrong.
A narrow four-run defeat by Bournemouth has been the only recent blip – Hook lifting themselves well clear of the danger zone and finishing in a satisfactory seventh spot.
Beating a jaded Hampshire Academy in the final match was Hook’s fourth win on the bounce, the 2019 Division 1 champions chasing down the Young Hawks’ total of 227 to win by six wickets with 27 balls to spare.
The Academy’s score was almost totally based around openers Charlie Mumford (60) and Toby Albert (63), but once they were parted at 145-1 the county innings lost all direction.
Five wickets fell for 14 runs – Daniel Moore (4-28) and Josh Balcombe (2-35) making inroads – before Kamran Khanna (33) led a fightback, which saw the total side to 227 before Aniket Divecha (3-54) mopped up the tail.
Matt Love (54) and Stuart Lockwood (43) took charge from the start for Hook, putting 106 runs on the board before the former Sidcup hard hitter departed to a return catch by spinner Louis Prichard.
Harry Robson (36) and Matt Buckingham (35) made their respective marks before Harry Warner and Josh Buckingham completed the formalities.
For two-thirds of the season, Hook were fighting a relegation battle with Alton, but once they beat the Brewers in a rain affected round 13 affair, Josh Buckingham’s side rarely put a foot wrong.
A narrow four-run defeat by Bournemouth has been the only recent blip – Hook lifting themselves well clear of the danger zone and finishing in a satisfactory seventh spot.
Beating a jaded Hampshire Academy in the final match was Hook’s fourth win on the bounce, the 2019 Division 1 champions chasing down the Young Hawks’ total of 227 to win by six wickets with 27 balls to spare.
The Academy’s score was almost totally based around openers Charlie Mumford (60) and Toby Albert (63), but once they were parted at 145-1 the county innings lost all direction.
Five wickets fell for 14 runs – Daniel Moore (4-28) and Josh Balcombe (2-35) making inroads – before Kamran Khanna (33) led a fightback, which saw the total side to 227 before Aniket Divecha (3-54) mopped up the tail.
Matt Love (54) and Stuart Lockwood (43) took charge from the start for Hook, putting 106 runs on the board before the former Sidcup hard hitter departed to a return catch by spinner Louis Prichard.
Harry Robson (36) and Matt Buckingham (35) made their respective marks before Harry Warner and Josh Buckingham completed the formalities.
