Andover made it four consecutive victories in a row and pushed themselves up to second in the Southern Premier League table with a thumping victory over promotion rivals Romsey.

At a hot London Road ground and with a flat pitch, Romsey had no hesitation in batting first after winning the toss.

They were left to rue this decision as they lost a wicket in their first over to in-form Babu Veettil.

The pacer, who took five wickets in his last two matches, seems to be bowling better than ever. Romsey were 1-1 and this quickly became 11-3 with Veettil picking up another and Michael Adams getting in on the act from the other end.

At this point Romsey started to rebuild and the pitch looked good to bat on.

Captain, Johnny Nyumbu, introduced himself and Richie Taylor.

Nyumbu himself picked up the next wicket with the score on 35.

As the two bowlers kept the pressure on, wickets started to tumble. Romsey fell to 68-8 with Taylor picking up two deserved wickets and Nyumbu picking up the other two, one of which was a sharp stemming by wicketkeeper Matt Knight.

Romsey’s lower order battled hard but the Andover bowlers knew that if they were patient the wickets would continue to fall.

Veettil replaced Taylor and with the score on 92, Nyumbu and Veettil got one more wicket each and Romsey were all out for a meagre total in the 32nd over.

All the Andover bowlers were on top of their game in hot conditions and Ramsey were up against it.

Without regular opener Sam Ashman, Knight was promoted to open with ex-Hampshire player Glyn Treagus.

Knight, having hit his first two balls for four was the first to go with the score on 21.

Harry Blackburn joined Treagus and this pair all but finished the game off. Treagus fell for a well crafted 36 with the finish line in sight with the score on 79.

Treagus, who passed 350 runs for the season so far, looked in good touch scoring freely on both the front and back foot.

Blackburn, who also got 36 was not out at the finish was particularly dominant against the spinners hitting confidently over the took and manipulating the strike.

It was left to Blackburn and Charlie Ayers, who hit 10 in two balls, to finish the game off in just the 16th over.

Nordlock-sponsored Andover leapfrogged Romsey from third into second place in the Southern Premier Cricket League table.

Andover welcome Hartley Wintney to London Road on Saturday (12pm start) and they will be wary of the opponents they lost to earlier in the season.

Hartley Wintney sit fourth in table, hanging onto the coattails of Andover who will be looking to put some breathing space between themselves and the rest of the promotion chasing sides.

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