Winning start for Lympsham

AFTER being crowned champions of Division 4 last year, Lympsham were looking for a strong start to life in Division 3.

The first game of the new campaign saw them travel to Broadway and Horton and with rain lingering, skipper Jack Luff had no hesitation in asking the opposition to bat after winning the toss.

Lympsham started strongly, with opening bowlers Jack Luff and Tom Gooding building lots of pressure and creating chances. Luff got the first breakthrough of the year with a sharp bouncer which was well taken by keeper Gary Hutton.

Luff finished with 1-8 off his seven overs, and Gooding (1-20) struck from the other end too, leaving the home side struggling on 37-2 off 22 overs.

First change bowler Liam Morris (1-10) continued to apply pressure to the home side, but it was the introduction of Lympsham Concrete man of the match Adam Micklewright who swung the game in Lympsham’s favour.

Bowling with pace and accuracy, he ripped through the Broadway middle order finishing with figures of 4-28 off his 7 overs.

With the score on 85-7, it was down to young Max Gregory (1-25) and Sam Poole (2-13) to wrap up the innings, leaving Broadway all out for 111.

Due to rain delays, Lympsham had just 34 overs to reach the target of 112, and it soon became apparent the visitors were in no mood to hang around.

Openers Dave Luff and Hutton both played with freedom, but it was Luff who had his foot firmly on the accelerator, timing the ball sweetly and scoring at an impressive rate.

The pair took the score past 50 in the 10th over, and put on 76 before Hutton was caught for 24. This brought son Jack to the crease, who continued to keep the scoring rate up.

They took the score to within a single blow, when Luff senior tried to finish the game in style but was caught for 56, before Jack Luff (22 not out) finished the game off for the visitors and ensured Lympsham picked up full points.

Lympsham host the other promoted team from last year Curry Rivel on Saturday.