Andover Seconds back with a bang

1:02pm Thursday 21st August 2008

POWELLS sponsored Andover travelled to Alton on Saturday and lost a closely-fought encounter.

Andover won the toss and elected to field first on a wet pitch which favoured the bowlers. A slow start from Alton, thanks to tight opening spells from Roger Miller and Richard Taylor, saw the home side creep to 20 from ten overs and the introduction of Mark Miller brought a breakthrough thanks to an excellent diving catch from Ali Hooper.

Andover continued to apply the pressure with some good bowling from spinners Matt Hooper and Uwe Birkenstock, however, some hard hitting from the middle order and some missed chances saw Alton post a very competitive 195-9 with Mark Miller ending with impressive figures of 4-20 off ten overs.

Andover openers Mark Miller and Hooper raced to 20 off the first two overs but both fell in the space of 12 balls leaving Birkenstock and Taylor to rebuild. Both batted with caution and guided Andover into a great position at 130-2. Taylor hit an excellent 50 before a flurry of wickets and Andover found the run rate getting higher. When Birkenstock was removed for a superb 70, Andover needed 40 off seven overs which was a tough challenge on a deteriorating pitch and slow outfield and was always beyond them.

The innings closed on 183-8 as Andover rued missed opportunities during their fielding innings. The result had no impact on league standings as all the bottom teams failed to win, leaving Andover sitting comfortably at mid table when they host Bashley tomorrow.

ANDOVER II registered a comfortable win over Pylewell Park after two weeks off lost to the weather.

They lost the toss and batted on a damp, cloudy day at London Road where the pitch was slow and there was a degree of movement but Steve Williams and Mike Adams started with confidence. However, if Pylewell Park had been able to catch Andover may have been in trouble.

As it was, the partnership prospered and Andover reached 171 before losing Williams (93), while Adams (81) carried on.

The rest all went for their shots as Andover piled on 257-7.

Pylewell Park soon found themselves in trouble as Luke Graham (2-18) and Adams opened up with a lively spell.

This then brought on the first change bowlers Dean Woodhouse (4-51) and the wily veteran Andy Hooper (3-34) and it was not until the 38th over that Pylewell Park started to put bat to ball to finish on a respectable 175-9.

The thirds grabbed a thrilling victory off the penultimate ball of the match against Vospers on London Road 2 to increase their winning streak to six out of six.

The visitors won the toss and chose to bat making a solid start.

Their openers batted sensibly but never took the game away from the town side, taking 32 overs to put on a hundred partnership before Nick Dancer was rewarded with a wicket in the last over of a fine spell of 1-35 off 12. Vospers then used their wickets in hand to increase the scoring rate, putting on another hundred runs in the last 13 overs with some enthusiastic hitting and opportunistic running between the wickets from their middle order.

They posted a respectable 200-5 from their 45 overs.

Skipper Andy Sale opened up with debutant Toby Harris and they put on 90 in 21 overs for the first wicket. Harris batted with aggression and discipline for his knock of 56, but when both were dismissed either side of the drinks break, Vospers saw their chance to put the brakes on with a fine spell of spin bowling from Knight and Keith in tandem. Andover needed a hundred off the last 20 and Dancer and Jody Everett put on 70 for the fifth wicket, but found themselves needing over 60 from the last seven. They started to take the game to Vospers, but when Everett was out they needed an unlikely 20 from the last two overs. But youngster Jos Clark entered the fray and smashed his first two balls for six and won the game for his delighted team mates scoring 19 off only seven balls.

The thirds will be looking to extend their unbeaten run at home again tomorrow against Sarisbury II ANDOVER V registered their most impressive win of the season at home to Damerham on Saturday.

Batting first on an unpredictable, damp pitch, Andover's opening pair of Chris Hooper and Dickie Channon found runs hard to come for the first ten overs as the Damerham quick bowlers used the conditions to their advantage.

Channon eventually departed for eight but Hooper weathered the storm, seeing off the openers with first James Halle-Smith and then John Copleston.

With the openers out of the way, Copleston and Hooper began to take the game to the visitors. Copleston was eventually run out for 43 and Hooper bowled for 53, but the pair had given Andover a solid base from which their big-hitting middle order could launch an attack in the last seven overs of the innings.

Ali Shahid (17) and skipper Pete van der Westhuizen (20) took the total up to 164-5, which, given the conditions, was competitive. Damerham's reply started sluggishly, as Neil Shields and Shahid bowled tightly. Shahid picked up the first wicket and from then on the visitors went into a state of collapse. Shahid eventually picked up 4-3, Van De Westhuizen three, Dan Turner one and the last wicket was claimed by Alex Aldridge as Damerham were bowled out for just 20 runs. There were three catches, including one exceptional one from Hooper, and a run out, which were just reward for Andover's much improved fielding displays this year.

Andover Sunday II travelled to Hungerford and came back with a nice win on a cold cloudy afternoon.

Batting first, they knocked up 173 thanks to Nasim Alam (13), Matt Knight (14), Sean Attwood (29), Jonty Hadfield (22), Martin Roberts (20) and Will Ingram (14) plus 49 extras. In reply, Hungerford wickets fell regularly, finishing on 156-7, leaving Andover victors by 17 runs. James Knight 1-23, Roberts 1-30, Dan Leavesley 1-32, Pete van der Westhuizen 1-15, Hadfield 2-23 and Ewin John 1-31 all took wickets.

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