BASINGSTOKE and North Hants will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing performance in the London Club Championship when they host Hambledon on Saturday.
The Bountymen got their Southern League Division One campaign off to a fantastic start with a 109-run victory over Sarisbury last Saturday, but things did not go so well in the cup two days later.
Visiting Valley End made 208-5 from their 45 overs, with Ryan Connor taking 3-48, but Basingstoke fell well short, captain Chris Froud top-scoring with 35 as they were restricted to 151-8 in reply.
Froud said: “Monday was disappointing because we did not play very well.
"It’s a competition we probably were not going to win and it can become a distraction, so going out is not a disaster, but the way we played was disappointing.”
Next up for Basingstoke is a home game against Hambledon on Saturday. Froud is waiting on the fitness of Dean Nurse, who picked up a thumb injury on Monday, but is hoping to field the same team that beat Sarisbury.
Visit basingstokegazette.co.uk/sport for live over-by-over coverage from May's Bounty on Saturday.
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