JORDAN Hobday hit a magnificent century as Hook and Newnham Basics moved up to second in the Southern League Division One table with a six-wicket victory away at Rowledge.

The talented all-rounder, who has been beset by serious knee injuries in recent years, played an exceptional innings to effectively win the game for the visitors.

Having restricted Rowledge to 186-8 from their 50 overs, Hook decided to go on the attack at the start of their innings.

Openers Hobday and Ben Thane (21) scored rapidly in the early stages, bringing up 50 inside six overs and putting on 86 for the first wicket.

Hobday’s innings was excellently crafted. He took advantage of the field restrictions in the early stages, going aerial to pick up boundaries and reach his half-century in just 24 balls.

In years gone by, he would have continued in this vain when more fielders were allowed to retreat to the boundary, an approach that saw him fall short of three figures on several occasions.

This time was different. When the fielders dropped back, Hobday reined in his attacking intent, milking the bowling for singles and hitting bad balls for boundaries along the ground.

It took him a further 61 deliveries to score his second 50 and secure his first Southern League century, but it was what was required by the team.

When he was eventually dismissed for 111, caught at extra-cover looking for another big shot down the ground, Hook were almost home, needing just 23 runs from 20 overs with seven wickets in hand.

Hobday had been due to bat down the order, but captain Matt Love’s decision to promote him up the order was one of two big calls that the visiting skipper got right.

His first call was to field first after winning the toss and his opening bowlers found plenty of uneven bounce in the early stages. The pitch seemed to improve as the match went on, but Rowledge were never really able to get going with the bat.

Their total of 186-8 gave the hosts something to defend, but Hook were favourites at the tea break, when Love decided to open the batting with Hobday in an attempt to take a big chunk out of the required runs early on – another strategic decision that turned to gold.

At the start of the match, Spencer Champ was especially impressive with the ball as Hook tied their hosts down. He managed to hit an area of the newly-laid pitch where some balls shot through low and others reared up on a regular basis, meaning batsmen were never able to settle.

He struck with the second ball of the match, Alex Bloomfield edging one that stayed a bit low to Matt Love at gully, and conceded very few runs, bowling well in tandem with Shane Brewer.

Champ claimed his second wicket in the fifth over, leaving the hosts 5-2, and while Will Davies and Chris Broad (15) put on 43 for the third wicket, scoring wasn’t quick and the hosts found themselves 48-3 after 15 overs.

Davies went on to reach his half-century, making 51 and putting together a partnership worth 85 with David Lloyd.

With those two at the wicket, Rowledge were in with a chance of getting a score above 200. Hook were offering up too many extras and bat balls in the middle phase of the innings, but off-spinner Anik Divecha and medium-pacer Thane were able to turn things around.

They tightened things up and Divecha was handed a gift of a wicket when Davies top-edged a thigh-high full toss straight to Thane at short midwicket.

Thane struck in the next over, Hobday taking an excellent catch at slip to dismiss new batsman Nick Taylor, and the hosts added just eight runs between overs 35 and 40.

Brewer took a couple of deserved wickets in his second spell as Hook continued to turn the screw and while Lloyd ended the innings unbeaten on 64, Rowledge’s total of 186-8 looked a little shy of par.

It was made to appear way off as Thane and Hobday set about the bowling, taking 25 runs off the first three overs, dealing mainly in boundaries but playing genuine cricket shots.

Hobday smashed one into the sightscreen for the first six of the match in the sixth over, during which the pair brought up 50, and when Rowledge captain Lloyd introduced himself into the attack, Hobday responded by smashing a massive six over cow corner, hitting the home skipper’s car.

Thane was dismissed for 21 in the 12th over, edging Lloyd to the wicket-keeper, but Hobday remained in the middle, guiding the visitors over 100 two overs later.

The run-rate slowed as Hook moved towards victory and frustration got the better of Kieran Thomson (21), who was stumped as he looked to advance down the pitch to wiley spinner Chris Yates.

Hobday brought up his century with a perfect cover drive in the 28th over and while he fell three overs later, having hit 18 fours and two sixes, Hook were almost there.

Matt Buckingham fell without scoring in the next over, but Love (19 not out) and Nick Willcock (4 not out) saw Hook over the line for an ultimately comfortable victory.

The result, combined with Basingstoke and North Hants’ defeat to Liphook and Ripsley, saw Hook move above their local rivals and into second place in the Southern League Division One table, just five points behind leaders New Milton with seven games of the season remaining.

SCORECARD

Rowledge
A Bloomfield c Love b Champ 0
W Davies c Thane b Divecha 51
I Metcalfe c Thane b Champ 4
C Broad c M Buckingham b Champ 15
D Lloyd not out 64
N Taylor c Hobday b Thane 0
S Morseley lbw b Brewer 1
J Wish b Brewer 1
B Wish b Hobday 11
 Wheatley not out 3
Extras 36
Total (for 8 wickets, 50 overs) 186

Fall: 1-0, 2-5, 3-48, 4-132, 5-136, 6-145, 7-152, 8-173

Bowling: S Champ 10-5-20-3, S Brewer 10-2-33-2, K Thomson 4-0-29-0, J Hobday 6-0-26-1, B Thane 10-1-29-1, A Divecha 10-2-37-1

Hook and Newnham Basics
B Thane c B Wish b Lloyd 21
J Hobday c Lloyd b J Wish 111
K Thomson st B Wish b Yates 21
M Love not out 19
M Buckingham lbw b Broad 0
Nick Willcock not out 4
Extras 11
Total (for 4 wickets, 33.5 overs) 187

Fall: 1-86, 2-143, 3-164, 4-172

Bowling: T Wheatley 4-0-37-0, J Wish 7-1-52-1, C Yates 10-0-38-1, D Lloyd 3-0-17-1, C Broad 9-0-35-1

RESULT: Rowledge (5 points) lost to Hook and Newnham Basics (21) by 6 wickets

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