BASINGSTOKE and North Hants will be looking to bounce back to winning ways on Saturday, when they entertain lowly Tichborne Park.

Last weekend, the Bountymen slipped to third, after they suffered a 138-run defeat at Portsmouth.

More importantly they are now two wins behind leaders Calmore Sports, who occupy the only promotion spot.

Captain Mitch Stokes said: “It is really important for us to win on Saturday and we cannot afford to move further behind the leaders.”

Stokes to set to pick an unchanged side for the visit of Tichborne, and the Bountymen have a good record at home having lost just once in four outing.

Last Saturday, in Portsmouth, the home side won the toss and elected to bat. Opener James Christian led the way as he scored an excellent century, and shared a first wicket stand worth 75 with Jordan Palmer-Goddard (27).

Palmer-Goddard was the first man out, as Stokes (4-51) took his first of four wickets.

Portsmouth then piled on the runs, thanks to Christian and Andrew Marston (80) as the pair added 121, and then Marston and Fraser Hay (64) took the score to 281 as Portsmouth finished on 304-6.

Basingstoke openers Dan Belcher and George Metzger were back in the pavilion with just 38 on the board.

Skipper Stokes and Will Phillips (19) set about repairing the damage, as they added 68 for the third wicket.

Stokes was Basingstoke’s top scorer with a fine 65 from 33 balls which included three sixes and nine fours.

However, Basingstoke were struggling at 120-5. Bradley Neal (10) and David Griffiths (27) moved the score to 152, but at this point Neal, Griffiths and Martyn James all lost their wickets with no addition to the score. Basingstoke were eventually bowled out for 166 inside 33 overs.

Stokes said: “We failed to take our catches and this cost us dear as they scored more than they should have, 280 would have been a par score.”