Friday 17th July 1998
BASHLEY (RYDAL) v BOURNEMOUTH

Bournemouth became the first winners of the Southern Cricket
League's Europa Knockout Cup after overcoming a triple early
setback to beat Bashley (Rydal) by five wickets in an absorbing
County Ground final.

Chasing Bashley's 149-3 in 23 overs, Bournemouth's top order
capitulated to a three wicket burst by Matt King, who whipped
out South African Mike Stonier, Matt Swarbrick and Chris Elward
in quick succession.

But led by Stuart Rintoul, Geoff Warrington and, latterly,
their captain Martin Miller, Bournemouth recovered from a
potentially disastrous 15-3 to seal a memorable five-wicket
victory with three balls of the final over to spare.

Bournemouth's success failed to take the gloss off a sparkling
innings by man-of-the-match Adie Gaunt, whose unbeaten 91 for
Bashley set up a pulsating final.

The Adelaide-born opener came off to a standing ovation after
enthralling the large crowd with an innings, containing three
sixes and ten fours - teenage David Kidner receiving a real
mauling from the young Australian.

Steve Latimore, Graham Pardey and Robbie Latimore all gave
support, although Bashley were left to reflect on a subdued
mid-innings period when their scoring rate was checked by Paul
Garlick's tidy six-over stint.

A target of 150 appeared way beyond Bournemouth after King's
triple blast, until Rintoul and Warrington began to rebuild
the innings with a boundary-peppered partnership.

The fourth-wicket pair added 80 in quick time to push Bournemouth
ahead of the clock and firmly into the driving seat.

Warrington (32), which struck three sixes, eventually fell to
a fine low catch by Neil Taylor, while Rintoul (59), who had
threatened Gaunt's star-man award, holed out at mid-wicket.

But Bournemouth were not to be denied - Martin Miller assuming
responsibility and, with Piggott in support, scored an unbeaten
27 to take the trophy to Chapel Gate for the first time.

BASHLEY (RYDAL) innings
S.Latimore           run out                        18
A.Gaunt              not out                        91
*G.Pardey            c Piggott b Garlick            14
R.Latimore           b Pack                         18
N.Taylor             not out                         1
Extras                                               7
TOTAL                (for 3 wickets, 23 overs)     149

DNB: D.Middleton, S.Diment, +C.Gates, T.Rice, R.Paul.

Fall of wickets:     1-40, 2-78, 3-128.

Bowling:     Piggott 6-1-32-0, Diment 6-0-31-0, Garlick 6-0-22-1,
             Pack 3-0-26-1, Kidner 2-0-35-0.


BOURNEMOUTH innings
M.Stonier            c S.Latimore b King             0
M.Swarbrick          c Gates b King                  5
C.Elward             b King                          5
S.Rintoul            c Paul b Rice                  59
G.Warrington         c Taylor b Rice                32
*+M.Miller           not out                        27
M.Piggott            not out                        10
Extras                                              11
TOTAL                (for 5 wickets, 22.3 overs)   150

DNB: S.Diment, D.Kidner, N.Pack, P.Garlick.

Fall of wickets:     1-0, 2-6, 3-15, 4-95, 5-117.

Bowling:      King 5.3-1-23-3, Nash 4-1-21-0, Taylor 6-0-39-0,
              Paul 1-0-12-0, Rice 6-0-35-2.


Umpires: Brian Knapp and Denis Emery (South Coast Panel).