BOURNEMOUTH skipper Chris Park saw his side crash to defeat from the brink of victory against Hampshire Academy and admitted: “Mother cricket bit us on the backside.”

In a rollercoaster contest at Newclose which was reduced to 45 overs per innings, Lions looked dead and buried after being skittled out for a meagre 111.

But star performances with the ball from Ed Denham (4-13) and Rob Pack (3-23) dramatically put the visitors in the driving seat, with Hampshire collapsing to 55 for nine.

There was to be another twist in the contest, however.

The 10th-wicket duo of Monaam Abbas (22no) and Hampshire’s head of player development Charlie Freeston (29no) guided the hosts to their victory target, with an unbroken stand of 60.

The Bournemouth skipper, who was also guilty of dropping a catch with Hampshire nine down, told the Daily Echo: “It about sums up our luck at the moment, it really does.

“At tea, nobody even thought about winning. Getting Hampshire Academy 55 for nine was an incredible turnaround.

“We just couldn’t get the last wicket. Ninety-nine times out of 100 the bowling side would win that.

“When you can see the scoreboard saying 55 for nine, you do just think it’s a matter of time. Unfortunately, mother cricket bit us on the backside again.

“In the whole innings we dropped seven catches. I dropped a catch off Rob Pack’s last over which would have won us the game.

“It was just one of those games where you see the scoreboard total tick down. I just kept thinking ‘not again, please’. We just needed that little bit of luck and it just never came back to us.

“The ferry ride on the way home was very subdued and I was just gutted for the lads that we couldn’t get that wicket and tonic we needed to kick on for the rest of the season.”

Wicketkeeper-batsman Park had earlier joint top-scored for Bournemouth with 28 from 62 deliveries. Jonny Coombs (28) and Simon Woodruff (23) were the only others to reach double figures.

But the skipper admitted his side as a collective should have done better with the bat.

“The pitch was unbelievably good – it was the best pitch we will probably play on all year. For us to get bowled out for 111 was just not good enough,” he added.

“There were too many batsmen giving their wickets away cheaply and playing poor shots – me included.”

Defeat meant Bournemouth remained second-from-bottom of the table. Lions have lost four of their five completed games this season.