Burridge show attacking instinct to beat Hampshire Academy

The win kept the Botley Road side on the heels of the top two '“ South Wilts and St Cross Symondians '“ in third.

Rick Ankers was happy to see his team rewarded for their attacking tactics.

'˜It was a proper timed game of cricket where we had to battle hard at times to get the win,' said the Burridge skipper.

'˜Though the Academy got close I always felt we were in control of the game.

'˜The main reason they got so close was we refused to adopt safety-first tactics.

'˜We could have wrapped things up and taken the winning draw at any time.

'˜Instead we kept going for the win.

'˜We knew a winning draw wasn't good enough to stay in contention for the title.

'˜Because we kept attacking it allowed our opponents to score runs but it also allowed us to take wickets.'

After winning the toss, Burridge chose to make the first use of one of the best wickets in the league.

Joe Collings-Wells (72) and Lee Savident (36) gave the innings a solid foundation with an opening stand of 77.

However, the visitors soon ran into trouble after Savident was clean bowled.

Burridge lost three wickets without adding to their score and suddenly slumped to 138 for five.

The lower order came to the rescue with some resolute batting.

Ankers (18), Sullivan White (28) and Ollie Southon (19) all dug in and helped their team post 259.

'˜We found ourselves under a bit of pressure when we lost three quick wickets,' added Ankers.

'˜Numbers eight, nine and 10, however, batted nicely to get us up to a competitive total.'

When the Academy replied, the wickets were shared around the Burridge bowlers.

Southon, White, Dan Stancliffe and Hilio De Abreu all claimed two victims each.

Star man Collings-Wells had the final say, though, with the run out of Tom Prest (81) to seal the win.

Ankers had special praise for the batting of his man-of-the-match.

Collings-Wells has now scored 456 league runs for Burridge this season, with four half-centuries.

'˜Joe keeps churning out important innings for us,' said Ankers.