NORDLOCK-sponsored Andover travelled to Hartley Wintney on Saturday looking to extend their twogame winning streak.

However, the away side came away on the wrong side of a high-scoring battle despite a quick-hitting 63 from Max Souter.

After losing the toss, Matt Hooper’s men were asked to bat on a flat pitch with a notorious short boundary at one end.

Openers Ali Hooper and Glyn Treagus got off to a flyer with the first over crashing for 18 with Hooper in no mood to hang around.

Treagus, not to be outdone, continued his rich vein of form from last week and blazed the ball to all parts of the compact village ground.

The pair raced to 70 off just seven overs before Hooper edged to third man and was well caught for 34.

Treagus soon followed, having crunched 37 off 31 balls and Dave Taylor had a rare off weekend when he was adjudged to be lbw without scoring.

It was left to Darron Augustus and Craig Ross, on his first team debut, to steady the ship.

Runs were still flowing as is customary at Hartley Wintney and the pair looked very comfortable.

Augustus, having constructed a tidy 25, was bowled by a great delivery from left arm spinner Teale, who followed it up with another gem the next ball to remove Will Arnold.

Ross was then joined by Max Souter and the big hitter showed his intent from the off and smashed five sixes and five fours in an aggressive 63 – a great knock from the young powerhouse.

Ross played the supporting role, milking the bowling with ease to set the away team up for a big score.

When Ross brought up his halfcentury and the score on 215-5 with 15 overs still remaining, the innings needed to kick on in style.

Ross went for an excellent 53 with Matt Knight who carried on his good work with the bat.

Knight and Souter found the boundary with regularity but fell in quick succession before Ed Duckworth was ripped out by a Jolley yorker.

Matt Hooper was bowled to leave his side on 272 all out off 45 overs, crucially not batting their final five overs.

The Hartley innings started steady, knowing that wickets in hand would be the key.

The opening pair batted very sensibly and got to 204 in the 40th over before the first wicket fell.

Centurion overseas player Wivell knocked up a score of 116 before Danny Foy claimed his wicket thanks to sharp work from Knight behind the stumps.

The required run rate was still up around the seven an over mark and Andover knew they had a chance if they could prise out more wickets.

However, the Hartley batsmen showed some mettle and battled hard.

Taylor bowled opener Hersh for a patient 80 and Matt Hooper trapped Wrenn lbw to give the home side a scare.

But the experienced Baldwin saw Hartley over the line with 11 balls left.