BOURNEMOUTH University’s cricketers are through to the southern regional finals of the BUCS indoor sixes tournament after winning all seven qualifying round matches at Eastleigh’s Fleming Park.
Basingstoke & North Hants spin all-rounder Ash Neal led the way as Bournemouth defeated teams from Brunel, Chichester, reigning national champions Portsmouth, and Southampton to win the pool with an unblemished 100 per cent record, writes Mike Vimpany.
Neal clocked up 197 runs in the seven matches, without being dismissed once. His run tally included a maiden 50 against Portsmouth, alongside six ‘retired’ knocks and several tidy spin bowling performances.
Arsalan Abbas, Brad Currie and Neal were all unbeaten with the bat as Bournemouth completed a double over Brunel’s two sides - before Dan Goodey (3-18) and Neal (2-19) shot Chichester out for 90 – a total the tournament winners chased down with some comfort.
Beating 2019 BUCS winners Portsmouth proved the pivotal result in Bournemouth’s pursuit of a place in January’s southern regional finals.
Currie and Neal both made 25 not out as Bournemouth posted 97 – a score they successfully defended with leg spinner Lawrence Snookes claiming a hat-trick as Portsmouth were dismissed for 77.
Bournemouth cruised to later victories over Portsmouth II and Southampton University’s A and B sides to reach the southern regional finals in style.
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