Matt Bacon pictured in action by Howard Gadsby Kiwi all-rounder Matt Bacon and Scott Myers played the lead roles as Alton ended a six-match losing sequence with an 18-run win over Basingstoke & North Hants – a result which dumped the Bountymen on the ECB Southern Premier Division basement.
Bacon shone with bat and ball, making an important 46 and sharing a game changing partnership with Myers to help Alton recover from 51-4 to post 162.
The Otago paceman then took 5-56 as Basingstoke tumbled to 144 all out and a fifth defeat in six.
Alton, put into bat, were in difficulty at 51-4 when Myers (51) and Bacon (46) came together to double the score to 117. The pair fell within five runs of each other, leaving Tom Allam (3-20), Mitch Stokes (3-47) and Brad Neal (2-20) to account for the lower order.
Requiring 163 off a rain trimmed 48 overs, Basingstoke promptly lost Dan Belcher and South African Brad Porteous for ducks, but Ben Thane (49) and Craig Williamson (18) put some handy runs on the board to 63-2.
Fruitful
Soon after Williamson became Bacon’s second victim, Thane hit the first six of the innings with a top edge over the slips, but two balls later the Basingstoke’s skipper was caught behind by Mark Heffernan as the New Zealander gained revenge for the six.
At this point, the Bountymen were 69-4, but Brad Neal was next out with only one run added. David Griffiths (19) enjoyed a fruitful partnership of 27 with Stokes (15) and did the same again with Joe Oates, but when the former Hampshire man was caught with the score on 125-8, the writing looked on the wall for the home side.
Without a run being added Ash Neal, joined him back in the May’s Bounty pavilion, leaving last pair Oates and Lawrence Benge to try and bat out eight overs for a draw.
Oates (32 not out) went on the attack hitting Julian Ballinger (3-40) for a straight six down the ground, but just when it looked like the improbable might happen,the XL Club ace bowled Benge and the Basingstoke were all out for 144.
Basingstoke captain Thane reflected: “We bowled well and fielded well in difficult conditions, but once again we have failed with the bat and have to do better in that department.”
Bacon shone with bat and ball, making an important 46 and sharing a game changing partnership with Myers to help Alton recover from 51-4 to post 162.
The Otago paceman then took 5-56 as Basingstoke tumbled to 144 all out and a fifth defeat in six.
Alton, put into bat, were in difficulty at 51-4 when Myers (51) and Bacon (46) came together to double the score to 117. The pair fell within five runs of each other, leaving Tom Allam (3-20), Mitch Stokes (3-47) and Brad Neal (2-20) to account for the lower order.
Requiring 163 off a rain trimmed 48 overs, Basingstoke promptly lost Dan Belcher and South African Brad Porteous for ducks, but Ben Thane (49) and Craig Williamson (18) put some handy runs on the board to 63-2.
Fruitful
Soon after Williamson became Bacon’s second victim, Thane hit the first six of the innings with a top edge over the slips, but two balls later the Basingstoke’s skipper was caught behind by Mark Heffernan as the New Zealander gained revenge for the six.
At this point, the Bountymen were 69-4, but Brad Neal was next out with only one run added. David Griffiths (19) enjoyed a fruitful partnership of 27 with Stokes (15) and did the same again with Joe Oates, but when the former Hampshire man was caught with the score on 125-8, the writing looked on the wall for the home side.
Without a run being added Ash Neal, joined him back in the May’s Bounty pavilion, leaving last pair Oates and Lawrence Benge to try and bat out eight overs for a draw.
Oates (32 not out) went on the attack hitting Julian Ballinger (3-40) for a straight six down the ground, but just when it looked like the improbable might happen,the XL Club ace bowled Benge and the Basingstoke were all out for 144.
Basingstoke captain Thane reflected: “We bowled well and fielded well in difficult conditions, but once again we have failed with the bat and have to do better in that department.”
Scott Myers
