South Wilts skipper Russell Rowe smashed his third successive Southern Electric ECB Premier League century with a majestic 170 not out against Liphook & Ripsley at Ripsley Park
Mike Vimpany11-Jun-2001South Wilts skipper Russell Rowe smashed his third successive Southern Electric ECB Premier League century with a majestic 170 not out against Liphook & Ripsley at Ripsley Park.It was the highest individual Premier League score so far – and the first time any batsman had scored three hundreds in a row since Bournemouth’s Shanthi Waas in 1975.But the beefy Wiltshire opener almost finished on the losing side as gallant Liphook came within two runs of overhauling South Wilts’ rain-trimmed total.South Wilts hit a towering 282-6 but, chasing a weather-cut 244 off 57 overs, Liphook finished two runs adrift at 242-8 as the drawn match reached its climax..Rowe, who had twice scored back-to-back hundreds in the past three seasons without going on to complete a hat-trick, hit two sixes and 22 boundaries in his 3-half hour stay at the crease.It was just as well he did bat throughout the innings as South Wilts were not in a particularly strong position when Tim Lamb (32) departed at 114-4.New Zealander Ben Jansen (4-88) created inroads, but Rowe continued his massive innings and, with later support from John Williams (29), saw South Wilts on to 282-6.Chris Wright (34) and Steve Riley(32) got Liphook off to a positive start, but from 85-3, last year’s Premier Division 2 winners really prospered, with Michael Smyth (71) and Jeremy Bulled (37) to the fore.Liphook lost wickets as they edged agonisingly closer to the target and Nick Gay (21) was run out as the East Hants club closed at 242-8 … just two runs behind.Havant’s Andy Perry came close to eclipsing Rowe’s run feat, scoring an undefeated 160 in the drawn match against Calmore Sports at Havant Park.Perry, whose unbeaten innings contained 21 fours, dominated Havant’s 272-3 declared.Striking the ball crisply and cleanly through mid-on and mid-off, Perry came within four runs of emulating his personal best score of 164 playing in Western Australia several winters ago.He shared a second-wicket stand of 129 with Richard Hindley (53) before easing Havant into an unassailable position alongside Shawn Gillies (31).James Hibberd (3-76) shed a pound or two during a lengthy 23-over stint for Calmore, whose 195-7 reply was centred around Jez Goode (67) and Stuart Bailey (64 not out).Hindley (6-87) wheeled away with his off-spin to great effect, but fading light denied Paul Gover the opportunity to reintroduce his pace bowlers and press for an outright victory.Hampshire’s Jason Laney struck a match-winning 95 not out as bottom club Hungerford overhauled Burridge’s 218-6 at the War Memorial Ground.Laney led the way and was well supported by Robbie Maier (36) and Alex Barr (43) as Hungerford celebrated their second win of the season.Spearheaded by Neil Cunningham’s 78, Burridge were set nicely at 134-1, but a rain interruption threw their momentum of out gear .Left-arm spinner Andy Ford finished with 4-69 as Burridge slipped from 169-2 to 218-6 – a total which Hungerford passed with some comfort.Former Lymington left-arm paceman Dan Goldstraw wrecked Bournemouth with figures of 5-42 and, alongside Dave Banks, set up a six-wicket win for BAT Sports in the opening all-day Southern Electric ECB Premier League “time” match at Chapel Gate.Goldstraw tore the heart out of the Bournemouth middle and late order after Matt Swarbrick (35) and Chris Park had given the host club a bright half-century start.But a promising 51-0 quickly became 56-3, with BAT’s other Lymington-raised recruit, Damien Shirazi (2-8) claiming two of the scalps.Martin Miller (20) and Julian Cassell (15) took Bournemouth on to 84-3 before Goldstraw returned for a second spell and, in tandem with Richard Taylor (2-59), sent six wickets crashing for only 29 runs.Bournemouth’s two tail-end Wilsons, Kristen and Joe, added 29 for the last wicket – before Goldstraw finished off the innings in his 22nd over.Ironically, Bournemouth’s modest 142 all out looked some distance away when Australian medium-paceman Peter Waite (2-30) and Kristen Wilson (2-34) had BAT wobbling at 36-3.But David Banks, the BAT captain, produced by some distance the day’s best individual innings to secure victory for the visitors.Banks hit an undefeated 74, dominating a crucial fourth-wicket stand of 72 with Simon Preston (24), who played a fine supporting role.Bashley (Rydal) picked up five wickets in the pre-lunch session at London Road to establish supremacy over Andover, whom eventually reached 169 all out.But it was not enough to prevent Neil Thurgood (59) and Adam Loader (50) from steering Bashley towards a six-wicket win.Andover progressed to 34-0 only to slump to 90-5 (Iain Brunnsweiler 33), with Andy Neal (2-15) removing Ian Langdown and Jerry Hayward in quick successon.Roger Miller (52) kept Andover’s innings afloat, but Matt King (4-37) survived being hit for a massive six by the cultured Tim Keighley (28) to finish the North Hants club off at 169.Bashley, minus Andy Sexton (broken finger), quickly lost stand-in opener Shawn Lilley, but half-centurions Thurgood and Loader added 116 for the second wicket before Richard Knowles (34 not out) completed the formalities.