BASINGSTOKE and North Hants stretched their unbeaten league run to four games by securing a draw against high-flying Kew.

The Londoners travelled down the M3 as Thames Valley division one leaders but went home in second after the home side battled well to deny them victory.

Basingstoke might even have won the match, but they were unable to make the most of their chances with both bat and ball.

Fielding first, Basingstoke dismissed three visiting batsmen for the loss of just five runs to leave Kew in some trouble at 140-3.

However, they were unable to take advantage and the visitors went on to make 259-4 from their 52 overs.

This looked a good total but Basingstoke were 123-1 at one stage, with Ben Foxley (72) and captain Andy Giles (52) batting well.

Sadly, Giles’ dismissal was swiftly followed by three more wickets.

Matt Thankachan (46) and Darren Rouse (33) got them back into the game but Basingstoke were eventually forced to bat out for a draw – finishing on 242-7 from their 48 overs.

Giles was pleased with his side’s performance and heaped praise on bowler Martyn James, who bowled right through the innings for a second successive week.

“With Chris Chandler and Dan Coombs not fit to play, we were a bowler light – so Martyn had to bowl right through the innings again,” Giles said. “It’s not ideal but it was a great effort by him to do that on a good pitch.

“We are quite pleased with that result. They are top of the league but we were competitive today.

“They never really got away from us and we bowled well but we never got any luck in the field, which happens sometimes.

“We had a chance at 120-1, a good chance, but we lost our way in the middle of the innings. If we had managed to keep our momentum going, we could have been in with a chance of winning.”

See the Monday Gazette for a full report.