Watts and Becks seal the deal for New Milton on the Island
Southern Premier Division One: Ventnor 132 v New Milton 133-6 (New Milton CC win by four wickets)
GEORGE Watts and Ryan Beck helped New Milton’s bowling attack restrict Ventnor to 132 while Lee Beck smashed 59 in their four-wicket win on the Isle of Wight.
After making the long trip to the Island, New Milton elected to field with the unsettled weather on the horizon. George Watts made an early breakthrough as he claimed Chris Russell caught behind by Luke Mortimore for 16.
Ventnor’s Mark Fletcher and Ben Herridge added 45 runs before Fletcher played a loose shot on 25 and was caught by Ryan Beck off Dan Loader’s bowling.
With that wicket, Ventnor’s innings began to crumble. Hugh Calloway was out LBW to James Haggaty without troubling the scorers, and soon after danger man Herridge was back in the pavilion as Ryan Beck took his first wicket of the game with a Steve Watts catch.
Bowling pressure
The bowling tandem of George Watts and Beck took apart the hosts batting line-up. Watts dismissed middle-order batsmen Martin Blackman, Ben Woodhouse and Henry Bartlett on his way to 4-29 from his ten-over spell.
Meanwhile, spinner Beck took two more wickets which wrapped up the innings giving him figures of 3-20 as Ventnor closed on 132 all out.
New Milton had struggled with the bat this season, and it looked to be the same again as they slumped to 14-3 with openers Steve Watts (0) and Ryan Beck (12) and number three Campbell Golding (2) all falling cheaply.
Match-winning innings
Lee Beck, who top scored with 57 last week, once again glued the visitors’ innings together. With assistance from Haggaty (13) and Matthew Freeman (15), Lee Beck struck another boundary-strewn half-century which included eight fours and one six before falling victim to Chris Russell on 59 who was the pick of the Ventnor bowlers with 4-52.
Alfie Hussey and Loader finished off the job as New Milton cruised home in 24.2 overs and with four wickets in hand.
With two wins on the bounce, New Milton sit sixth in Division One and will face Andover at Fernhill on Saturday.
