HOOK & Newnham Basics leapfrogged Liphook & Ripsley into fourth place with a convincing victory on Saturday.

Liphook will hope for a better result when they host SPL Division One leaders Bournemouth this Saturday. A good performance would set them up nicely for Sunday’s massive fixture: a Village Cup quarter-final away to Somerset club North Perrott, with a chance to claim a place in the last four of the national competition.

Hook’s decision to bat first at the King George Playing Fields proved a wise one as they recovered strongly from losing two early wickets to Sean Burton and posted a formidable 242 in their 50 overs.

A probing spell by Dave Elliott had them wobbling again at 122-5, but Jordan Hobday shared an important stand of 57 with Alex Brown. Hobday went on to hit 60 off 42 balls and with the tailenders doing their bit, the Basics advanced to a challenging total.

An opening partnership of 57 between Ryan Covey and Sam Franks was an encouraging start for Liphook, but things went downhill when leg-spinner Rhodes Franklin came into the attack and bowled Covey for 58.

From being 88-1, the visitors lurched to 99-4 and then 113-6. Rob Nicklin was then caught for 25 and Liphook slumped to 154 all out in the 44th over, Franklin finishing with 4-32 off 10 overs.

On Sunday, Liphook will be missing Grant Rouse and Giles Cover from the side that beat Oxford Downs in the Village Cup sixth round, but their strong cup line-up will include talisman Suman Ganguly who hit a superb 87 against the Oxfordshire champions.

Neither Liphook or North Perrott have advanced this far before in the competition. North Perrott are currently joint top of the West of England Premier League, but two of their best players are not eligible for the cup because they have turned out for Dorset this season.

“We’re hoping to get a number of supporters coming along,” said Liphook skipper Charles Janczur. “The players have had extra training this week to make sure we are fully prepared. Everyone is incredibly excited about the prospect of being two games away from Lord’s and it’s hard to keep focused on the league games.”

The cup match starts at 1.30pm at North Perrott’s apparently very pleasant Willis Lane ground.