HOOK and Newnham Basics will be out for revenge on local rivals Basingstoke and North Hants when they visit the King George V Playing Fields on Saturday for a Southern League Division One clash.

When the sides met earlier in the season, the Bountymen won by 51 runs as Hook were dismissed for 92 chasing 144 for victory.

With three weeks left in the season, Basingstoke look set to finish in the top four and Hook could climb up to fifth if they enjoy a late winning run.

Looking ahead to the game, Hook captain Matt Love said: “At the moment we are either really good or really bad. There is no science to it, which is making the season very frustrating.”

His opposite number at Basingstoke, Chris Froud said: “It is always nice to play in a game with a little bit of local rivalry and we will see what happens.”

Hook will have Gary Binns, Kevin Poulter and Richard Willcock all in contention for selection for the game, but wicket-keeper Josh Buckingham is unavailable, so Jordan Hobday will take over the gloves.

Basingstoke will have middle order batsman Craig Williamson back but their match winner against Hursley Park, Mo Rizwan, is unavailable.

Last weekend, seven wickets from teenager Rob Pack sent Hook crashing to a 124-run defeat at Bournemouth.

They were bowled out for 116, as top scorer Ben Thane (35) and fellow opener Hobday (13), were the only two players to make it into double figures. Park returned impressive figures of 7-17 from 10 overs.

Earlier, the home side made 240-8, as Michael Kitson top scored with 76 and Jake Hurley hit an unbeaten 55.

Spence Champ (4-30), took a wicket with his second ball and was the pick of the visiting bowlers, while Shane Brewer and Anik Divecha both claimed two scalps.

Hook skipper Love said: “We felt we could chase down the total, but we ended up finding it hard to score runs and they also took some very good one-handed catches.”

Basingstoke warmed up for their trip to Hook by snapping their recent losing streak with a six-wicket success over visiting Hursley Park at May’s Bounty.

The home side won the toss and put the visitors into bat, with the Hursley innings led by opener Tom Tennant (68) as they scored 184-9 from their 50 overs.

Opening Bountymen bowlers Martyn James (1-26) and Dan King (0-18) bowled tightly, while spin twins Dave Pistorius (3-34) and Matt Thankachan (3-35) took most of the wickets.

Richard Vinn (32) and top scorer Mo Rizwan got the home side off to a good start with a stand of 61 for the first wicket.

Rizwan and Dan Coombs added another 66 for the second wicket as Basingstoke took a grip of the game.

They got home with eight overs to spare, reaching 186-6, with opener Rizwan unbeaten on 70.

His 87-ball knock saw him hit three fours and two sixes.

Froud said: “We batted poorly and made hard work of the total. It was thanks to Mo that we won as he held the innings together.”