The frailties in Basingstoke’s batting armoury were exposed as Bashley (Rydal) took seven wickets in the pre-lunch session before bowling the Bountymen out for a modest 151 at the BCG.

Michael Porter struck an unbeaten half-century as Bashley went on to win by six wickets to climb to second place in the ECB Southern Premier Division table, writes Mike Vimpany.

Teenage left-armer Brad Currie (4-45), Dan Goodey (2-35) and Mitch Wilson (2-16) made early inroads for Bashley, who had the visitors struggling at 26-4 after being put into bat.

Former South Africa Under-19 captain Sibs Makhanya (24) and Brad Neal (15) rallied, but by lunch Basingstoke were deep in the mire at 97-7, with only Max Harsham of the recognised batsmen left.

The teenager batted either side of the break, playing some elegant whippy shots off his legs on his way to 58, an innings which helped Basingstoke reach a second batting bonus point at 151 all out (Josh Digby 2-28).

Dorset spin all-rounder Digby (26) and teenager Alex Turner overcame a hostile opening spell from David Griffiths and eased Bashley to 38 without loss, before Mitch Stokes (3-29) triggered a mini-collapse which saw three wickets fall for 18 runs.

Tom Jacques (30) calmed any nerves in the home camp and set the platform for Porter to crack a match sealing 59 not out, including the winning hit, huge six over mid-wicket and out of the ground.

Reflecting on Basingstoke’s batting demise, Director of Cricket David Griffiths said: “For the past two seasons batting has been an issue for us. Our batsmen need to value their wicket a lot more and bat for a far longer period of time than we’re doing at the moment and put a score on the board. Our batting is strong on paper, but we’re just not putting in the performances.”

Today, Basingstoke travel to Ventnor for an opening round game in the T20 Cup and then next weekend in the league they host Havant at May’s Bounty.