Basingstoke & North Hants registered a three-wicket win against Sparsholt despite a remarkable 10-over spell by Dan Sumner.

Sumner removed Basingstoke’s top five batsmen but it wasn't enough to guide Sparsholt to a win.

Batting first, Jeremy Frith (50) and Sumner (27) himself made their marks as Sparsholt were dismissed for 153 – a target Basingstoke chased down by three wickets, with Dean Nurse hitting a match winning 62.

Basingstoke are a satisfactory fourth in the log, having won four of their last five matches.

Sparsholt were 117-4 when Sumner (27) became the first of three victims for Dubs Wood (3-11), who eventually dismissed Frith.

Frith saw five batting partners come and go as he battled his way to fifty.

Sparsholt were hit by a tea-time disciplinary five penalty runs deduction, but they made Basingstoke fight every inch of the way. 

Sumner took three wickets for 14 runs at one stage, Ash Collison snapping up three slip catches.

Basingstoke lurched to 88-5, but Nurse, having found a reliable partner in Matt Donaldson (17), steered the Bountymen to the brink of victory before being seventh man out. 

Matt Thankachan, having earlier taken a tidy 3-32, eased Basingstoke across the finish line.