Guy Jewell glory for Basingstoke and North Hants (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Guy Jewell glory for Basingstoke and North Hants

8:00am Sunday 2nd September 2012 in Sport By Graham Merry

BASINGSTOKE and North Hants completed a rare double in limited over cricket as they won the Bluebird Care Guy Jewell Cup, having already defended the Don Lynch Aylward Cup.

It was also the first time the Bountymen had lifted the 20-over competition trophy as they beat Yateley by nine wickets at May’s Bounty .

This was thanks to an unbroken second wicket stand of 117 between skipper Dan Coombs and Chris Froud. Earlier in the game, Tom Wood (32) and Ryan Bone (37) looked to have built a good platform for the visitors as the pair added 63 runs for the second wicket.

However, with the score on 72, Coombs trapped Bone leg before and then, without a run being added, Lewis Benge caught and bowled Wood. Two quick run-outs followed as Yateley slumped to 87-6 and the home bowlers kept it tight as the visitors finished on 116-8 from their 20 overs.

The Basingstoke reply did not get off to the best start and saw Craig Williamson dismissed in the first over, but from there Froud and Coombs took centre stage.

Froud (44) hit five fours in his 50 ball knock, while Coombs (69), who picked up the Rita Thompson Cup for the man-of-the-match, hammered a six and eight fours in 49 balls as they got home with three overs to spare.

After the game Basingstoke captain Coombs said: “It is great to win the Guy Jewell Cup for the first time and once again we bowled really well to keep the total down.

“They bowled well for the first four overs, but we knew we just knocked out singles then as we knew the run rate was not too high. We then had a couple of good overs and made sure we did not lose any wickets.”

The Guy Jewell Plate was won by Overton, who beat Chawton by 56 runs in the final. Andrew Regan top-scored with 49 not out as Overton reached 164-3 from their 20 overs, while Neil Butler took 3-8 as Chawton were bowled out for 108 in reply.