READERS LINCOLNSHIRE
BY ANN BOULTON
One
century, a six wicket haul and an innings that topped 300 were the highlights
of the opening day of the Readers
Lincolnshire ECB Premier League programme.
Spalding’s Warren
Nel hit the lone century, an unbeaten 116 in a tight game against Market
Deeping, Matt Carter continued where he left off last season with six wickets
for Bracebridge Heath and Bourne unveiled a strong batting line-up that made
303 for eight off 50 overs.
The closest
game of the day came at Lindum where Sleaford – notorious for their disastrous
early-season starts – were the visitors.
Put into
bat, the champions struggled to build any sizeable partnerships despite skipper
Oliver Burford’s 44 and 31 from Kurt Colyn.
The final wicket fell on 196 in the penultimate over with Jon Miller and
Luke Robinson each taking three wickets.
The home
side had similar problems until, at 66 for four, Robinson was joined by Tom
Lindsay in a stand of 64 which turned the game Lindum’s way.
But Tim McIntosh,
who had earlier been dismissed for nine, broke the partnership and went on to
take two more wickets and with eight down, Lindum still needed 46 for
victory.
The lower
order chipped away at the total but with 183 on the board, McIntosh took his
fourth wicket to give Sleaford a 13 run win.
Nel’s ton
contributed to the highest scoring game of the day at Spalding where over 500
runs came. Batting first, Spalding
notched up 258 for eight, Josh Newton contributing 58 in a second wicket
partnership of 118 with Nel.
Market
Deeping’s reply also started well, Chris Jones and Jamie Morgan putting on 99
for the first wicket. Both fell on this
score but Alex Wheatley built on the good start, ably assisted by Lee Peacock
and Tom Andrews.
Two wickets
for Charlie Kearns gave Spalding hope of an outright win but Deeping continued
to narrow the gap until the overs ran out with the score just 14 short of the
target, Wheatley finishing unbeaten on 65.
Market
Rasen suffered a setback before their season even started when three players
were involved in a collision on the way to Jubilee Park
Woodhall’s
first wicket fell on 74 and it was O’Brien who took his side to an eight wicket
victory with an unbeaten 25.
Brett
Houston hit 80 and Hymie Bentley 45 to lift Bracebridge Heath from 40 for two
to 138 against Skegness. Chasing a final
score of 249 for nine, Skegness lost two early wickets to Cameron Hall but it
was the introduction of Carter to the attack that was the undoing of Skegness.
After Sean
Chamberlain had hit 43, Carter’s six wickets reduced the visitors from 90 for
four to 132 all out.
At Louth,
Laurence Scott almost made it two centuries on the first day but had to be
content with 98. Scott held the Louth
innings together after the first three wickets went for 18 runs, Danny Cliffe
claiming two victims. Assisted by the
middle order, Scott batted on to take his side to 227, the final wicket falling
on the last ball.
Three half
centuries contributed to Bourne’s 303 for eight at newcomers
Billingborough. Pete Morgan hit 83,
Stuart Airey 59, Carl Wilson 53 and Conrad Louth while Billingborough got off a
reasonable start, reaching 55 for one.
From here, the home side were unable to build any sizeable partnerships
and the final wicket fell on 162.
Results
Sleaford
196, Lindum 183 (Robinson 51);
Market
Rasen 116 (O’Brien 5-46), Woodhall Spa 119-2;
Bracebridge
Heath 249-9 (Houston
Bourne
303-8 (Morgan 83, Airey 59, Wilson 53), Billingborough 162;
Spalding
258-8 (Nel 116no, Newton
Louth 227
(Scott 98), Grimsby
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