CAPTAIN Martin Miller reckons overseas ace Josh Finnie has the potential to fire Bournemouth to promotion glory after watching the prodigy steamroller poor Totton & Eling.

New Zealand youngster Finnie, pictured top right, blasted an unstoppable 85 runs off just 47 deliveries with 12 fours and three sixes in an unbeaten third-wicket partnership of 145 with Mike Kitson (78*) at Chapel Gate.

See all the pictures of Bournemouth CC v Totton & Eling in a gallery 

The deadly duo led the Lions from 55 for two to a winning total of 200 to register an eight-wicket triumph – a third straight Southern Premier League Division One victory.

There was a slow start to proceedings for Miller’s men. Having put the visitors in to bat, opening pair Andrew Fletcher (42) and Tom Arnold (59) put on 85 for the first wicket before Richard Dibden (17) helped push Totton to 123 for two.

But with the chips down, Bournemouth upped the ante with Salman Khattak (2-22), Rob Pack (3-22), Andy Woodward (2-49) and Finnie (2-41) chipping in to wipe out Totton for 197 with their last ball of the afternoon.

And despite early exits for Bournemouth openers Andrew Hayward (four) and Miller (23), the skipper could not hide his delight having caught a glimpse of Finnie’s potential.

“I have been around a few years and can’t remember a partnership like that, it was sensational,” said Miller.

“This was the first time we had seen Josh’s true capabilities with the bat. He had been weighing in with his fair share of wickets but came here as an all-rounder. That’s why he’s with us and he really wowed everybody.

“Funnily enough, I didn’t think he bowled as well as he had in previous weeks but with the bat he was awesome and now the pitches have got slightly harder, he could have a massive impact for us.

“In previous matches, the pitches hadn’t been conducive to strong batting displays, so to see him come good in the right conditions came as no surprise.

“He is super talented and billed as one of New Zealand’s up-and-coming cricketers so hopefully, there is plenty more to come.”

And having put together an impressive trio of triumphs to erase the memory of defeats in their two openers, Miller is confident Bournemouth can push for a Premier Division return this term.

“We are not at full strength yet so to win by eight wickets is a truly great result,” added Miller.

“Totton got off to a flyer but once we took the pace off the ball we got a couple of wickets. They are an interesting side who are in the process of rebuilding after relegation like we had to.

“We managed to put them under pressure and they didn’t cope particularly well with it, which was very pleasing from my perspective.

“I have always believed we would get better as the year went on with our students coming back to the area and other people becoming available later in the year.

“We do have some tough games coming up over the next four or five weeks but we are here to try and win the league. That is why you take part so we will see what we can do and certainly give it our best shot.

“On paper, we are much stronger than we were last year. We simply didn’t perform in the first couple of weeks but things have clicked since then and we have showed shades of the side that went on a good run of results last year.

“I have been really pleased with our game over the past three weeks and who knows how far that could take us?

“This division is so difficult to predict because anyone can beat anyone on their day but we are playing good cricket at the moment and as long as that continues, I am confident we will do well.”