Paultons flexed their muscles for Saturday’s top British Gas Southern League Division 2 showdown at Totton & Eling with a 301-run burst against struggling Trojans at Whitemoor Lane.
They went on to win a weather affected affair by 78 runs and go into the Southern Gardens derby 12 points behind Totton, who won by seven wickets at South Wilts.
Opener Simon Ennew (68) was prominent at the start and provided an ideal platform for Josh Metcalfe (42) and Australian Steve Bills (66) to put bat to ball in a lively fourth-wicket stand.
Rob O’Brien (32) and Jack Murrell (19) also weighed in as Paultons, with eight maximums and 27 boundaries, posted 301-8, with Dan Babidge and Charlie King coming under fire.
Ed Boyd (42) and James Truscott (25) gave Trojans a 59-run start, but once Peter Lamb (3-34) and Robbie Pike (2-28) began to create inroads, they were always likely losers.
Hal Mohammed (36) chipped in before the rains came and curtailed affairs six overs from the scheduled finish, with Trojans 187-9 and well adrift of an adjusted 265-run target.
Totton & Eling’s Zimbabwean captain Mark Mbofana (3-16) took three wickets with the new ball to put basement side South Wilts II firmly on the back foot at Bemerton.
They lurched to 57-5 before Rob Pittman (37) and Steve Kidd (28) came together to give some substance to an innings which ended at 114, with Keiran Geyle (4-25) ripping through the lower order. The last four South Wilts wickets fell for six runs.
Pittman (3-23) made two breakthroughs – both catches by James Wade – but James Taylor (38) and Oli Perrin (28) ended any faint hope of South Wilts defending their small total.
Hartley Wintney ended their winless home run so far this season when they beat visiting Hambledon by six wickets. They lost the toss and were put into the field on a day when 270 looked a par score for the village green.
Hambledon lost the early wicket of Australian Sibghat Khan (bowled by Seb Waddington), but after 10 overs had reached 50-1. Hartley hit back with some tight bowling and also a couple of wickets for Scott Baldwin (4-25) as they reached 120-3 after 30 overs. Baldwin then removed Indy Chakrabarti (63) thanks to a catch by skipper Danny Plume and next ball bowled Owain Champman to leave the visitors on 166-5.
Kyle Shim saw off the hat-trick ball, but with only 11 runs added, he was back in the pavilion. It was left to top scorer Henry Glanfield (71) – his was a maiden SPL half-century - and Will Bond (24 not out) to give them some total to bowl at, as Hambledon finished on 225-6 from their 50 overs.
The Hartley reply suffered an early set back as New Zealander Henry Collier (13) was dismissed with 22 on the board. Fellow opener Will Kerr and Danny Plume helped move the score to 63-1 after 10 overs, which included the first six of the innings which Kerr flicked off his legs. The pair added 64 for the second wicket, before Plume was caught.
Kerr’s fine knock came to an end on 68. It meant at 106-3 the home side had to rebuild again. They did this thanks to Danny Flanders (32) and Scott Baldwin (67), as they added 63 for the third wicket, including two lovely sixes from Flanders, who then played on to spinner Rhidian Chapman.
With just 11 runs added Jamie Teale was given out leg before and then with score on 193, Baldwin was caught as Rupert Hetherington took his third wicket of the game. The pressure looked back on the home side as they had to rebuild their innings for a third time, but thanks to Rhys Batcup (25) and Jonny Rowland (10) they were able to win the game with five overs to spare.
They went on to win a weather affected affair by 78 runs and go into the Southern Gardens derby 12 points behind Totton, who won by seven wickets at South Wilts.
Opener Simon Ennew (68) was prominent at the start and provided an ideal platform for Josh Metcalfe (42) and Australian Steve Bills (66) to put bat to ball in a lively fourth-wicket stand.
Rob O’Brien (32) and Jack Murrell (19) also weighed in as Paultons, with eight maximums and 27 boundaries, posted 301-8, with Dan Babidge and Charlie King coming under fire.
Ed Boyd (42) and James Truscott (25) gave Trojans a 59-run start, but once Peter Lamb (3-34) and Robbie Pike (2-28) began to create inroads, they were always likely losers.
Hal Mohammed (36) chipped in before the rains came and curtailed affairs six overs from the scheduled finish, with Trojans 187-9 and well adrift of an adjusted 265-run target.
Totton & Eling’s Zimbabwean captain Mark Mbofana (3-16) took three wickets with the new ball to put basement side South Wilts II firmly on the back foot at Bemerton.
They lurched to 57-5 before Rob Pittman (37) and Steve Kidd (28) came together to give some substance to an innings which ended at 114, with Keiran Geyle (4-25) ripping through the lower order. The last four South Wilts wickets fell for six runs.
Pittman (3-23) made two breakthroughs – both catches by James Wade – but James Taylor (38) and Oli Perrin (28) ended any faint hope of South Wilts defending their small total.
Hartley Wintney ended their winless home run so far this season when they beat visiting Hambledon by six wickets. They lost the toss and were put into the field on a day when 270 looked a par score for the village green.
Hambledon lost the early wicket of Australian Sibghat Khan (bowled by Seb Waddington), but after 10 overs had reached 50-1. Hartley hit back with some tight bowling and also a couple of wickets for Scott Baldwin (4-25) as they reached 120-3 after 30 overs. Baldwin then removed Indy Chakrabarti (63) thanks to a catch by skipper Danny Plume and next ball bowled Owain Champman to leave the visitors on 166-5.
Kyle Shim saw off the hat-trick ball, but with only 11 runs added, he was back in the pavilion. It was left to top scorer Henry Glanfield (71) – his was a maiden SPL half-century - and Will Bond (24 not out) to give them some total to bowl at, as Hambledon finished on 225-6 from their 50 overs.
The Hartley reply suffered an early set back as New Zealander Henry Collier (13) was dismissed with 22 on the board. Fellow opener Will Kerr and Danny Plume helped move the score to 63-1 after 10 overs, which included the first six of the innings which Kerr flicked off his legs. The pair added 64 for the second wicket, before Plume was caught.
Kerr’s fine knock came to an end on 68. It meant at 106-3 the home side had to rebuild again. They did this thanks to Danny Flanders (32) and Scott Baldwin (67), as they added 63 for the third wicket, including two lovely sixes from Flanders, who then played on to spinner Rhidian Chapman.
With just 11 runs added Jamie Teale was given out leg before and then with score on 193, Baldwin was caught as Rupert Hetherington took his third wicket of the game. The pressure looked back on the home side as they had to rebuild their innings for a third time, but thanks to Rhys Batcup (25) and Jonny Rowland (10) they were able to win the game with five overs to spare.
