SPORT can be very cruel beast as Hook and Newnham Basics found out on Saturday afternoon, as they missed out on the Southern League One title by 0.01 of a point.

The north Hampshire side went into the final day as leaders and everything was going to plan, when they limited local rivals Basingstoke and North Hants to 202-9.

However, at this point the rain came down and Hook were unable to complete their game, leaving them with an average for the season of 15.93.

Second placed Sarisbury’s game was also abandoned , but by then the news had reached the King George V Playing Fields that Andover had managed to beat the weather and Portsmouth by eight wickets.

This meant the victors picked up 21 points and they finished the season with a title winning average of 15.94, as they nicked the title by the smallest possible margin.

A devastated Hook skipper Matt Love said: “It is hard to put into words my feelings it is so cruel to lose in this way.

“To be beaten by the weather and Andover managing to get their game finished is so cruel. We beat Andover twice this season so it is hard to take. I would have preferred to have been smashed by Basingstoke than to loose the title this way.”

He added: “We have finished second for the second year running and I am really proud of all my players this season.”

Basingstoke captain Mitch Stokes had sympathy for his rival skipper and said: “This is not the way they wanted their season to end, being beaten by the weather and I know it is hard for them to take.”

Earlier, in the day when it was dry, Hook won the toss and put Basingstoke into bat and limited the Bountymen to 119-4 after 40 overs, as Max Richards (39) and Dan Belcher (39) scored the bulk of the runs.

Hook’s Jordan Hobday (2-27) and Anik Divecha (2-24) shared the wickets.

Basingstoke then added nearly 100 runs in the last 10 overs of their innings, as Ben Julin (29) Mitch Stokes (39) and Joe Oates (31) all scored the runs.

Ben Thane with a season’s best 5-29 got amongst the wickets as the Bountymen finished on 202-9.

Hook with their batting line-up would have fancied their chances of chasing 203 for victory.

However, the rain had just started falling as the Basingstoke innings came to a close and never stopped forcing the game to be abandoned and with it Hook’s hopes of the title were washed away.