Lympsham became Division 4 champions after beating Cranmore by five wickets.

LYMPSHAM hosted Cranmore knowing a win would virtually guarantee them the league title.

Jack Luff won the toss and elected to bowl first and from the off, Lympsham looked the dominant force. Luff removed both openers within his first three overs and was well backed up by Liam Morris (1-26), who also picked up his first wicket after a good catch from Tom Gooding.

This left the visitors slumped on 11-3, but a good fourth wicket partnership got Cranmore back in the game. However, the introduction of Sam Poole’s spin got Lympsham back on top.

Bowling with control, he got the much needed breakthrough with the score on 57-4 at the halfway stage. Adam Micklewright bowled a tight spell without success, but this pressure lead to wickets tumbling, with Poole picking up his second.

Matt Mitchell came on and bowled a superb spell of 2-7 off six overs, and it was left to Gooding (1-13) and Luff (4-31) to clear up the tail restricting Cranmore to 123 all out.

In reply, Lympsham lost Hayden Tuttiett early, but Dave Luff and Gabriel Counsell got the home side back on track. The pair moved the score on to 38 before Counsell was bowled for 12.

Jack Luff joined his dad at the crease and together they punished anything loose. Some lusty blows from Luff senior pushed the scoring rate up, but he was eventually trapped lbw for 35 with the score on 86.

Sophie Luff joined brother Jack, but was bowled shortly after for six. Gooding and Luff moved Lympsham within five runs of victory before Lympsham Concrete man of the match Jack Luff was caught for an excellent 48 off 49 balls.

Gooding finished the job off ensuring that Lympsham chased the total down for the loss of five wickets inside 27 overs.

With other results going the home side’s way, this meant that Lympsham were crowned Division 4 champions with two league games still to play.