by Paul McNamara

NEW Milton skipper Ryan Beck said his team’s “enormous heart” helped them to a stunning 138-run mauling of ECB British Gas Southern Premier Division high-flyers Bashley (Rydal).

Overseas star David Wakefield shared a pivotal 119-run fourth-wicket stand with James Haggaty to help Beck’s side post a daunting 228 from 64 overs, writes Paul McNamara.

The captain then claimed his first five-wicket haul of the season as Bashley crumbled to 90 all out to go down to a crushing loss – seven days after they had conquered South Wilts to hit the top of the table.

New Milton, by contrast, went into the game off the back of three defeats on the bounce, having started the season with successive victories.

Beck said: “It was an absolutely massive win for the club and showed what enormous heart we have.

“We are thrilled. We are supposed to be one of the league’s whipping boys and we have dominated the team that was top of the division.

“I have to pay tribute to David Wakefield, he has been absolutely outstanding as a batsman and a club man for us. He and James Haggaty batted absolutely superbly.”

The only downer for Wakefield was that he fell to Simon Ridley (4-49) when he was just one run short of his century.

Nevertheless, Beck insisted his Kiwi opener was not interested in personal glory. And the skipper was similarly modest about his own spell of five for 34, which included the key wickets of Aussie Patrick Page (17) and Bashley captain Michael Porter for seven.

“I don’t think Bashley are used to batting on anything other than a road and I don’t think they adapted,” said Beck.

“David came in and said he didn’t care at all about the hundred. All he was bothered about was the fact we won the game. I bowled alright, I’ve got a hundred (against Hampshire Academy) and a five-for this season, so that’s not bad.

“We always felt we had enough runs, nobody has chased more than 210 to win here, so we were happy to pass 200.

“I know they were missing a few players but it was a fantastic win for us.”

Porter agreed with his opposite number’s assessment. He admitted his batsmen had failed to show the necessary flexibility to succeed in alien conditions and could have taken a leaf out of Wakefield and Haggaty’s unhurried approach.

Wakefield’s 99 came of 182 balls, while Haggaty’s knock lasted 94 deliveries.

Porter reflected: “We are so lucky with our pitches at the BCG: they are really flat. When we go to places where it does more for the bowlers we do not adapt well enough and that is why we lost.

“David and Haggs are two very good players. David probably showed us how we needed to bat on that pitch, he really gritted it out.

“But none of us really applied ourselves. It was a tough pitch – but those two batsmen showed us that if we had stuck at it we could have scored runs on it.”

Bashley were swiftly reduced to 5-2 in their reply, before Patrick Page, Porter and Tom Jacques all went for the addition of only five runs to leave the visitors on the brink at 38-5.

“It is tough to fight back on a bowler-friendly pitch when you lose three quick wickets like we did,” added Porter.

“We were always on the back foot. Credit to them, though, they bowled it in the right areas and made it very tough for us.

“The players we brought in were still top quality and with the team we had we should have won.

“But the fact we bowled one or two bad balls an over killed us – and, on the day, they were the better team. We were well beaten but we cannot let that derail our season. We have to forget it.”