Lincolnshire hopes hanging in the balance after defeat by Cambridgeshire

Their progress to the quarter-final stages of the competition will now be dependent on their result against Cumbria at Bourne on Sunday, 23rd June. Victory there and results elsewhere could see them progress.

Late withdrawals meant debuts for Nafis Shaikh (Grantham), Alex Winiarski (West Bridgfordians) and David Mansfield (Cleethorpes).

Lincolnshire won the toss and elected to field. Mark Footitt quickly claimed two wickets and then a third as Cambridgeshire reached 45-3.

Opener Callum Guest then fell to Messingham’s Josh Joy for 46.

At 153-7 Lincolnshire were well on top.

The Cambridgeshire lower order then flourished. Henry Wilson (35) and Jack Loveday (41 not out) ensured a reasonable total of 225-9 after their allotted 50 overs.

Josh Joy’s 4-24 off 10 miserly overs was the highlight for Lincolnshire.

Despite the early dismissal of Drew Sylvester, Lincolnshire moved steadily to 135-3 through Qundeel Haider (32) and Tom Keast (34).

When debutant Shaikh fell for a fine 64, Lincolnshire were 156-5.

Unlike Cambridgeshire’s lower order, Lincolnshire’s quickly fell away being dismissed all out in the 45th over for 185, leaving Cambridgeshire victorious by 40 runs.

There were just a couple of results in the Lincolnshire County Board Premier League on Saturday, as the rain affected most matches.

Market Deeping came out on top in an entertaining derby match at Bourne, which was reduced to 26 overs per side.

Deeping won the toss and elected to field, with Bourne posting a more than reasonable 201-5. Matthew Mills took 4-36 for Deeping.

The visitors then took on the challenge with both barrels, Josh Smith making 94 not out from 62 balls, Connor Gillett 63 from 58 and Hayatullah Niazi bettering both his teammates’ strike rates with 43 not out from 20 balls.

Deeping won at a canter by nine wickets and with 17 balls to spare.

The only other game in the Premier League that wasn’t abandoned in the first innings was at Woodhall Spa, where the home team and current league leaders amassed 150-1 from 30 overs against Sleaford.

A revised target of 174 was set for the visitors, but they fell to defeat by 12 runs despite 62 off 36 balls from Daniel Smith.

Former Nottinghamshire man Matt Carter took 3-20 for Woodhall.

Last year’s champions Lindum sit in second spot, 20 points behind Spa, with Grantham and Bourne currently making up the top four.

All four scheduled games in the Lincolnshire County League Premier Division were abandoned in the first innings on Saturday, with persistent rain making its way up from the south.

Last season’s champions Market Rasen remain top, sitting nine points ahead of Scothern with a game in hand, and are still to be defeated in the league this campaign.

Louth and Hartsholme currently sit in third and fourth respectively and will both believe they can be crowned the title winners with over half the season still to go.

Moulton Harrox are top of the South Lincs & Border League Championship after a 42-run victory at Newborough on Saturday.

The visitors made 166-9 and then bowled their hosts out for 124 in a 30 over affair. Matthew Rose took 4-22 for the table-toppers.

The only other game in the division was halted after just 10 overs at Skegness, with Billingborough already staring defeat in the face at 25-7.

Their rain dance clearly did the trick as they got away with one!

Sleaford, Burghley Park and Grantham make up the top four in this division, but all had to accept no play was possible for them on a miserable day.