Lymington are the only side to win their first two games and now proudly head the SPL Premier Division table. What soon looked as if it was going to be an early finish then turned out to be a bit of a battle with a tight ending but Lymington finally got home by three wickets after an early batting collapse Bournemouth showed remarkable resilience on a lovely breezy sunny afternoon.

Bournemouth having been put in to bat slumped to 49-7 as a swinging new ball and putting it on the spot plus a bit of pace paid dividends. This was helped by some sharp fielding. Opening the bowling Gareth Berg took 2-26, and Eddie Withington 2-17 including James van Gool (1) with his first ball and Luke Webb (0) with his ninth. Last week the pair scored 126 runs between them so were clearly in good form. The opening bowlers were well backed up by Alvin Cameron 2-35.

Bournemouth wicketkeeper Ben Rogers (21), fresh from playing for the MCC, did his best to hold the top order together but Tom Robinson (16) was the only other player to offer much resistance. However, the game then changed as Connor Smith (75 in 97 balls) then played a disciplined innings as he and tailender Cole Rushforth (38 in 73 balls) put on 100 for the eighth wicket as luck ran out on the Lymington bowlers. Finally, an excellent run-out by Gareth Berg put an end to the partnership and while Smith hung on a while, before he was out to a good catch on the boundary by Harry Anstee off Monam Abbas (1-31), the Bournemouth innings subsided with the Bournemouth captain admitting the total of 185 was not enough.

Lymington captain Gareth Berg has injected a new positivity into the side whatever the situation and this helped see Lymington home. It started with the opening partnership as Monam Abbas, 40 with 36 of these in boundaries, set about the Bournemouth bowling. Together with club league debutant, Ben Shoare (12) they raced to 51 for the first wicket before captain Simon Woodruff (3-38) had them both. Terry Crabb (13), coming into the side at the last minute, and Ryan Scott (27) carried the momentum forward. However, it was then left to Gareth Berg (38), helped by a 50 partnership with Scott, to largely guide Lymington home until he was run out, going for a second run, by Lewis Freak. Bournemouth sensed a chance with the aggro increasing following Berg’s dismissal but Eddie Withington (21 not out) then decided to attack, punching four fours in order to relieve the pressure. Being well backed up by another league debutant Harry Anstee (7 not out) the pair put on 26 runs to see Lymington home with almost 15 overs to spare. Conor Smith (2-41) with his left arm spin was the other main Bournemouth wicket taker.

This coming Saturday the side travel to Winchester to play St Cross Symondians always a tough fixture that will inevitably test Lymington’s mettle. This is again a limited (50) overs game with a 12.30 start.