Fareham & Crofton win thriller at Andover IIs

The visitors needed until the final over to surpass the hosts’ total of 177.

Tom Kent admitted it was a nail-biting start to the season which could have went either way.

The Fareham captain said: ‘We are renowned for not doing anything the easy way.

‘It was a tight game all the way through and it could have gone either way.

‘At the start we bowled pretty poorly but later in their innings we improved.

‘We managed to pull it back and bowled them out for 177, which we thought was a good effort.’

Dan Wimble grabbed three wickets and Morgan Frost finished with two for 30 off his 10 overs.

In reply, a number of visiting batsmen got into double figures without converting them into bigger scores.

Angus Southon (28) and Frost (18 not out) shared a crucial ninth-wicket partnership to put Fareham in sight of victory.

The visitors needed four from the final over to win but only had one wicket in hand.

However, Matt Gould held his nerve and hit the winning runs from the second ball of the final over.

Meanwhile, Bishop’s Waltham suffered a three-wicket defeat at Old Tauntonians & Romsey in their division one opener.

After being put into bat the visitors found themselves in deep trouble at 59 for five.

Suhaib Ahmed (31) and Luke Carvey (43) eventually helped them post a target of 163 all out.

Despite having Old Tauntonians & Romsey eight for five, the hosts recovered and clinched the win.

In division two, Hayling Island made a poor start 
with a five-wicket home defeat to Compton & Chandler’s Ford.

Hayling were bowled out for just 88 and it was never going to trouble the visitors.

Portsmouth IIs produced an even worse batting performance and were skittled out for 54 in their seven-wicket loss at Ferndown Wayfarers.