Tense finish as Lymington squeeze past South Wilts in low-scoring affair
ECB Southern Premier Division: Lymington CC 129 v South Wilts CC 120 (Lymington win by nine runs)
LYMINGTON maintained their unbeaten start to the season following a close nine-run home victory over South Wilts.
After losing the toss, Lymington were put into bat by the visitors and looked to get off to a quick start.
However, opener Oliver Calcott, Ben Rogers, Gareth Schreuder and Dominic Hand were all dismissed cheaply to opening South Wilts opening bowler Matthew Burton (5-31) as he ripped through the Lymington top order to leave them 38-4.
Number three Ryan Scott was joined by Darren Cowley who was coming off his boundary-strewn 61 last week against Bournemouth. The pair put on 37 for the fifth wicket before Cowley became unstuck by Stephen Warner for a quickfire 22.
Scott fell shortly after as he was bowled on 25 by Will Harries with the innings waning on 89-6.
Loose bowling
South Wilts’ erratic bowling performance that included 35 runs from wides helped Lymington to 129 all out following a patient 14 from Ben Attrill and 13 from tailender Josh Proctor.
In response, captain Matthew Metcalfe led by example as he picked up two wickets on the first two balls of the innings to restrict South Wilts to 0-2.
Calcott then caught James Hayward off of Metcalfe (4-35) as South Wilts were struggling to chase down the below-par target.
Batting collapse
The score pushed onto 44-3 before Josh Royan and Metcalfe removed the dangerous visitors’ captain Tom Morton and wicketkeeper Ben Draper to leave the game finely poised.
Another collapse from South Wilts saw the end of middle order batsmen Arthur Godsal and Raff Hussey as Lymington looked to snatch victory from the visiting side.
However, South Wilts’ Burton and Luke Evans remained vigilant with only one wicket needed for victory. They put on 23 for the last wicket partnership before Evans nicked the ball to Schreuder behind the stumps off of Scott’s bowling to ensure a narrow nine-run win.
Second-placed Lymington travel to Burridge on Saturday as they look to continue their impressive start to the season.
