BASINGSTOKE and North Hants captain Andy Giles was delighted to see his side overcome a series of setbacks to record their third straight win.

Stand-in skipper Giles, deputising in the absence of the injured Russell Droy, led Basingstoke to a thrilling three wicket victory away at local rivals Thatcham Town on Saturday – a result that lifts them up to seventh in the Thames Valley division one table.

The Bountymen had to contend with strike bowler Chris Chandler picking up a hamstring injury just five overs into the match, forcing him out of the attack, while Daniel Coombs was barely able to walk after hurting his knee in the field.

Chandler’s injury meant that fellow opener Martyn James had to bowl right through the Thatcham innings, finishing with figures of 6-84 from a massive 26 overs as the home side completed their 52 overs with a score of 211-8.

That was a tough target to chase on an unpredictable wicket but Basingstoke batted well, opener Ben Foxley making 74 in his first outing of the season.

However, they needed a good partnership between Coombs (43 not out) and James (24 not out) to win the match, the pair putting on 63 to take the visitors over the winning line.

Coombs was forced to bat with Giles as a runner due to his injury – and the captain was pleased with the spirit shown by his side.

“It was a great win and we showed a lot of guts,” Giles said. “That’s three excellent performances in a row and we can take a lot of heart from that.

“Martyn James bowling the whole innings is not ideal and I would not normally ask him to do it but the pitch was suited to him. It was doing a bit and he put it in good areas, so he thoroughly deserved his six wickets.

“Ben Foxley did very well in his first game back and Daniel Coombs came in at the end and smashed us to victory on one leg, which was a great effort after we had lost a couple of wickets.”

See The Monday Gazette for a full report.