Teenager Abhay Gonella hits 65* to guide Alton home [Roy Honeybone]
Alton put their first win points of the season on the board when they successfully overhauled South Wilts healthy 252-4 by six wickets with two overs to spare.
The result was a serious setback to South Wilts’ prospects of featuring in the ECB Southern Premier Division leadership race at the end of the first phase of 50-over white ball cricket.
Instead, it was Alton who celebrated after their best yet SPL run chase, underpinned by a remarkably patient 65 not out by teenage opener Abhay Gonella and fuelled by a run-a-ball 61 from the in-form Scott Myers.
After Tom Morton had fallen to the impressive Ben Mortimer, South Wilts based their innings on Owain Phillips (41) and a solid half-century by William Wade (50).
But their eventual 252-4 owed much to Joe Cranch, who hit two sixes and five fours in his unbeaten 78, and Arthur Godsal, who hit a punchy 47 not out in the lead-up to tea.
So, how did the respective view the situation at the half-way point ?
South Wilts skipper James Hibberd: “We thought 250 was an ok score, but knew we had to bowl well and we didn’t!
“This sums up our first few weeks of this season. We haven’t got the ball in the right areas often enough to create any pressure. They played positively and deserved to win.”
Alton’s Scott Myers, who went on to play a key innings, reflected: We bowled superbly for two-thirds of the innings.
“If you had offered me 250 at the start I would have taken it, but after 40 overs I was hoping for 225/230, but they had wickets in hand and we didn’t bowl well in the last ten.
“We thought the score was par and that we would need to bat well to get it.”
Alton put their faith in Abhay Gonella at the top of the innings – and the recent Hampshire Under-17 call-up did everything the Brewers’ asked of him.
The Guildford Royal Grammar School sixth former, who joined Alton from Sunbury two seasons ago,
batted the entire length of the reply, hitting only one of the 133 balls he faced to the boundary – but his unbeaten 65 won the match.
“He did exactly what we asked him to do. His job is to bat the whole innings while the rest of us bat around him,” Myers said.
"There was plenty of chat aimed at him around the pace of his innings but nothing phased him.
“He’s a very impressive young man and the way he conducts himself.
“He showed immense powers of concentration and skill. Considering he is still only 17 years of age his was a fantastic knock for the team.”
Gonella enjoyed a series of fine partnerships, initially with Michael Heffernan (23) and run-a-ball Dan Harris (41) before South African Marco Marias (17) chipped in.
But it was the youngster’s near-century partnership with Myers (61) that turned the game firmly in Alton’s direction.
The pair added 97 to take the Brewers to an impressive six-wicket win.
Dropping down to five in the batting order seems to be suiting Myers’ own game.
“I am very happy with the way I have been batting so far this year. I enjoy batting against the white ball, as I’m sure most batsman in the league do.
“I have moved down a slot to number 5 with Marco coming into the side and it seems to be working.
“After last year’s batting frailties, I am really proud of the way the guys have started the season with the bat.
“I made some changes to winter practise to make sure our primary batsman got more time in the nets than others and it looks to be paying off.”
The result was a serious setback to South Wilts’ prospects of featuring in the ECB Southern Premier Division leadership race at the end of the first phase of 50-over white ball cricket.
Instead, it was Alton who celebrated after their best yet SPL run chase, underpinned by a remarkably patient 65 not out by teenage opener Abhay Gonella and fuelled by a run-a-ball 61 from the in-form Scott Myers.
After Tom Morton had fallen to the impressive Ben Mortimer, South Wilts based their innings on Owain Phillips (41) and a solid half-century by William Wade (50).
But their eventual 252-4 owed much to Joe Cranch, who hit two sixes and five fours in his unbeaten 78, and Arthur Godsal, who hit a punchy 47 not out in the lead-up to tea.
So, how did the respective view the situation at the half-way point ?
South Wilts skipper James Hibberd: “We thought 250 was an ok score, but knew we had to bowl well and we didn’t!
“This sums up our first few weeks of this season. We haven’t got the ball in the right areas often enough to create any pressure. They played positively and deserved to win.”
Alton’s Scott Myers, who went on to play a key innings, reflected: We bowled superbly for two-thirds of the innings.
“If you had offered me 250 at the start I would have taken it, but after 40 overs I was hoping for 225/230, but they had wickets in hand and we didn’t bowl well in the last ten.
“We thought the score was par and that we would need to bat well to get it.”
Alton put their faith in Abhay Gonella at the top of the innings – and the recent Hampshire Under-17 call-up did everything the Brewers’ asked of him.
The Guildford Royal Grammar School sixth former, who joined Alton from Sunbury two seasons ago,
batted the entire length of the reply, hitting only one of the 133 balls he faced to the boundary – but his unbeaten 65 won the match.
“He did exactly what we asked him to do. His job is to bat the whole innings while the rest of us bat around him,” Myers said.
"There was plenty of chat aimed at him around the pace of his innings but nothing phased him.
“He’s a very impressive young man and the way he conducts himself.
“He showed immense powers of concentration and skill. Considering he is still only 17 years of age his was a fantastic knock for the team.”
Gonella enjoyed a series of fine partnerships, initially with Michael Heffernan (23) and run-a-ball Dan Harris (41) before South African Marco Marias (17) chipped in.
But it was the youngster’s near-century partnership with Myers (61) that turned the game firmly in Alton’s direction.
The pair added 97 to take the Brewers to an impressive six-wicket win.
Dropping down to five in the batting order seems to be suiting Myers’ own game.
“I am very happy with the way I have been batting so far this year. I enjoy batting against the white ball, as I’m sure most batsman in the league do.
“I have moved down a slot to number 5 with Marco coming into the side and it seems to be working.
“After last year’s batting frailties, I am really proud of the way the guys have started the season with the bat.
“I made some changes to winter practise to make sure our primary batsman got more time in the nets than others and it looks to be paying off.”
Joe Cranch 78* top scored for South Wilts : Roy Honeybone
