BOURNEMOUTH lived up to skipper Martin Miller’s exacting standards as they roared to an eight-wicket win over Division One basement battlers Liphook & Ripsley.

The visitors elected to field first at Ripsley Park and dismissed their opponents for a paltry 104 in the 37th over, with 42 of those runs made by opener Richard Covey.

Paceman David Kidner continued his fine form with figures of three for 17 while Kiwi youngster Josh Finnie took three for nine and Mike Kitson claimed two victims.

The impressive Kitson (46*) and Finnie (10*) finished the job for Bournemouth in the 25th over after Miller and Andy Hayward opened with 17 and 16, respectively.

And Miller admitted that his team had performed well despite the absence of key players.

He told the Daily Echo: “Everything came together very well. We were not at full strength so to get a win was pleasing.

“Generally, we did the basics very well and put pressure on them, and they weren’t able to put the pressure on that they needed to win the game.

“We bowled in really good areas. David Kidner continued his good work from last week and Mike Kitson and Josh Finnie bowled very well.

“Andy Hayward and I gave us a platform with the bat and Mike hit 47 so we were able to finish the game very early.

“I set very high standards for the team. We just have to keep playing well and if we’re at the top of our game then other teams are going to have to be better to beat us.”

Bournemouth quickly had their hosts in trouble at 20 for two after the experienced Kidner removed Rob Nicklin for eight and Giles Cover for a seventh-ball duck.

Kidner struck again as he trapped Richard Williams leg before wicket and Kitson caught and bowled both Harry Munt (1) and Chris Martin (0).

That left Liphook & Ripsley on the modest mark of 50 for five and despite the best efforts of Covey, he was dislodged by Finnie with the score on 82.

The hosts offered little further resistance with just 22 runs being put on for the last four wickets, as Finnie added a couple more wickets to his tally.

The reply was a thoroughly regulation affair with steady efforts from Miller and Hayward supplemented by heavy hitting from Kitson, which allowed Bournemouth to easily reach their target in the 24th over.