Louth Taverners stay in title contention

Louth Taverners kept their East Lindsey League title hopes alive with an emphatic win at Cleethorpes Town on Sunday.
Laurence Scott starred for Louth Taverners at Cleethorpes EMN-160407-131522002Laurence Scott starred for Louth Taverners at Cleethorpes EMN-160407-131522002
Laurence Scott starred for Louth Taverners at Cleethorpes EMN-160407-131522002

The Taverners travelled to Immingham hoping to match the Saturday successes of the First and Second teams, and duly followed suit with a maximum points haul.

Having won the toss, Cleethorpes decided to bat in the sunshine, and young openers Arnold and Lumby started steadily against a fast and accurate spell from Keaton Critchell.

The first wicket fell with the score on 29 from a sharp caught and bowled by Keaton, but Louth skipper Zubair realised the wicket was dry and introduced the leg spinner Lawrence Scott early.

Scott didn’t disappoint and struck in his second over, courtesy of a tidy catch by Critchell.

With Khawar Naeem continuing his steady seam and swing bowling from the other end, pressure continued to build on the home batsmen and they kept losing wickets regularly.

Scott finished with impressive figures of 4.2-1-17-4, while Naeem took 3 for 3 from five overs as Cleethorpes were skittled for a small total of 75 in 19.2 overs.

After the break, Louth started the chase knowing a small total can become tricky if early wickets are lost.

Zain Siddiqui and young Bailey Wright started steadily and kept the scoreboard moving with Siddiqui the aggressor and Wright a steady partner.

Wright was caught behind with the score on 43, but Siddiqui and young Sam Jones made sure the visitors didn’t lose any further wickets.

They completed a nine-wicket victory by reaching the target in just 12.2 overs to take the full 20 points from the game.

Siddiqui finished unbeaten on 37 and Jones scored 18 not out.

Louth Taverners lost their previous game to Grimoldby by one wicket after a close game and the result of Grimoldby’s next game will decide the position of the two teams in the league.

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