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Portsmouth skipper gutted after batting meltdown
KEVIN RICKETTS Email Published: 16:00 Sunday 11 June
Portsmouth endured a catastrophic batting meltdown in a crushing 107-run defeat to Bournemouth at St Helens on Saturday. Openers Ben Duggan and Jordan Palmer-Goddard gave the home side a flying start as they set about a target of 237 in the Southern League division one clash. But once the pair departed it turned into a batting nightmare for Portsmouth. They lost seven wickets for just 11 runs – including two stumpings and a run out.
Portsmouth captain Jack Marston admitted it was a horror show. He said: ‘We just capitulated and it was very disappointing. ‘We knew if we batted our overs we would more than likely win the game. All we had to do was bat sensibly. ‘Bournemouth’s score was good but we felt it was well within our capabilities to chase it down. ‘When our openers went out and smashed 50 off the first seven overs we looked in good shape. But after they got out we never got going. ‘Nearly all the dismissals were soft ones and I include myself in that. At the moment I keep finding different ways to get myself out. ‘I need to spend more time at the crease. ‘Bournemouth had two good left-arm spinners and not a lot else. We just didn’t make a game of it.’
Bournemouth won the toss and elected to bat first. Asad Abbas (two for 20) bowled well for the hosts. Duggan (37) then opened the Portsmouth innings in typically aggressive style, quickly accumulating his runs off 32 balls. He struck two sixes before he was caught on the long-on boundary going for a third. Marston added: ‘Ben took the attack to Bournemouth. ‘He does tend to live and die by the sword.’ After that wickets tumbled with Vikram Dawson, Paul Hungerford, Prad Bains and Alex Hammond failing to trouble the scorer.
After a fourth straight loss, Portsmouth are one place off the bottom. ‘We have re-inforcements arriving in the next few weeks,’ said Marston. ‘James Christian is back for the next game and in two weeks we’ll have Fraser Hay and Andrew Marston back from Australia. ‘Our team will then be a lot more balanced. Fraser will open our bowling and bat at three or four. ‘He is another aggressive player in the Duggan mould. ‘And with Andy in the side it will give us two left-arm spinners who can tie up 20 overs. ‘There is no need to panic as we are only five games into the season. ‘I am convinced we will soon start climbing the table.’
Read more at: https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/cricket/premier-cricket-league/portsmouth-skipper-gutted-after-batting-meltdown-1-8528184
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DAN THE MAN
View From Silly Point by Jamie (Mitch) Mitchell
Youngster Dan Wallis was the headline act with bat and ball last Saturday, as he near enough single-handedly earned Portsmouth 2s their first Hampshire League Div 2 victory of the season, at Odiham & Greywell.
Amid the shock of winning the toss, Pompey’s under-fire captain, Nicky Wyatt, was unusually lost for words, and needed to ask-the-audience. Thankfully, the blue skies and what looked like a fast-scoring ground provided the answer, nudging him towards batting first.
After losing both openers early, having spent the May weekends batting in the lower-middle order for the 1st XI, Wallis wandered centre stage with opportunity knocking to build an innings. Opportunity also rang the doorbell, after Wallis was spilled in the slips on 3. It proved to be a decisive drop, as Wallis peeled off a classy, unbeaten 130, with a variety of shots entirely at odds with his university-based diet. Arjun Patel, Harlan Randall, and Raz Havell were the prominent supporting cast, enabling the ensemble to post an altogether decent 228 for 7.
Probing opening spells from Wallis and Randall deserved more than the one wicket garnered, as the home side cautiously set about their testing target. It was once the backup bowlers were introduced, that the sight of Portsmouth fielders retrieving balls from the surrounding hedges became increasingly common, making the target appear more insignificant with every boundary.
And just as minds meandered towards evening plans, Andy Chapman removed two of Odiham's set batsmen, while the evergreen Rick Marston, and Raz Havell chipped in with a scalp of their own. With any hope of defending 228 disappearing quicker than Reuben McCardle when it's his round, Wyatt turned to Wallis with wickets and plenty of them being the brief. A sharp leg-side stumping from the effervescent Martin Balland-Collins preceded a staggering collapse, as the home side folded like an origami deckchair.
Wallis left the attack with 5 wickets to accompany his hundred, and with Odiham's last pair requiring not-very-many to win, setting the scene for an anxious home straight. Every run scrambled were greeted with tension-releasing cheers, until the return of Raz Havell put a permanent hush over the home support, to hand Pompey a seriously sought after six-run win.
The Unicorns return home this weekend, as they play host to East Woodhay.
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