BASINGSTOKE and North Hants skipper Lee Nurse was frustrated that his side didn't seal their first Home Counties premier division one victory of the season at Finchampstead.

The visitors, having lost the toss and been put into bat, made 213 in 61.2 overs - a total Nurse felt could have been a lot better.

A dreadful middle order collapse - five wickets went cheaply for just four runs as Aussie spinner Brian Clemow ran amok, taking a hat-trick en route to figures of 7-37 - put the pressure on Basingstoke.

Clemow's bowling and reckless batting threatened to undo the good position Nurse (72) and Julian Wood (46) had put Basingstoke in.

Doughty Scott Dyer had to hang in there with his lower order partners to edge the tally over the double century mark.

But such a reachable target for Finchampstead to aim for created a finely poised encounter - one that really became enthralling in the final session.

At tea, Finchampstead were on 76-3 after 30 overs.

In a nip-and-tuck affair, after sandwiches and refreshments, Basingstoke's bowling attack gave it their all but fell one wicket short of bowling out their hosts.

By batting out their 58 overs, Finchampstead secured a draw, but Nurse felt it shouldn't have come to that.

He said: "We are still searching for that elusive win and it really should have come today. Finchampstead is normally a good hunting ground for us.

"Our performance early on was good and our batting is getting better, but there are still improvements to be made.

"At one stage I thought we would reach 250/260 but, and I keep saying it, our middle order has got to improve.

"It was so annoying watching such an awful middle order display. Obviously, credit must go to Clemow - he did his job - but the guys lost their heads out there."

And it was Clemow (70) who also did damage with the bat, with some flashing strokes and fours off Charl Willoughby which greatly displeased the South African paceman.

Willoughby made the required breakthrough in the first ball of the 39th over, finding the right line and length to clean bowl Matt Jones and make it 113-4.

Keith Harris, who returned figures of 4-56, got the vital wicket of Clemow. He edged to slip and James Morris, who pulled off a super catch to make it 143-5.

The next four wickets were taken by Harris and Jon Govett, thanks to fine catches around the boundaries, as Finchampstead advanced to 188-9.

But with the 7pm and overs deadline looming, time was not on Basingstoke's side.

Nurse said: "It's always frustrating when you get to nine wickets down and can't quite get the final one.

"Both Keith and Charl bowled well again, but we need to start winning as we know we can."