Lincolnshire women clinch place for T20 Finals Day

The first game was a low scoring nailbiter due to the slow, wet outfield.

Lincolnshire were put into bat and opener Lillimae Severn battled through difficult conditions to finish up 32 not out as she anchored the innings to post 78-6 from the allotted 20 overs.

Positivity and discipline in the field was required to stand any chance of victory. Opening bowlers Rebecca Austin and Kate Williams snaffled an early wicket each, but more importantly kept the runs down.

A fourth wicket partnership brought Cambridgeshire back into the game, but miserly bowling from spinner Abi Hannan and wicket-taking skipper Lauren Tuffrey (three wickets) in the middle overs got Lincolnshire back in control.

And with five runs required off the final over to win, opener Rebecca Austin was called upon to clinch the victory only allowing Cambridgeshire to score two runs off the bat and one leg bye resulting in Lincs winning by a single run.

The second game did not go Lincolnshire's way as the free-flowing bat of Cambridgeshire captain Kelly Haynes allowed the hosts to post 121-5.

The Lincolnshire innings never gained any momentum and fell 40 runs short of the target.

But Lincolnshire finished second in the league and move on to Finals Day at Great Witchingham CC on Sunday.

Elsewhere in the county, unfortunately it was another damp affair with only one of the scheduled five Lincolnshire Premier League fixtures reaching a conclusion.

In the only game that finished, Grimsby Town registered their first victory of the year overcoming Nettleham by five wickets.

Grantham, Bourne, Sleaford and Market Deeping occupy the top four places in the league and at the other end Spalding, Nettleham and Scunthorpe Town are still looking for their opening wins of the 2023 campaign.

A large number of youngsters across the county will be hoping for better weather this coming weekend as the national All Stars Cricket and Dynamo Cricket programmes start to get underway at venues across the county.

All Stars is an introductory programme available to all 5-7-year-olds and Dynamos is targeted at 7-11-year olds.

Both programmes are designed to provide an exciting first experience of the sport and to find out where your nearest centre is visit www.ecb.co.uk