Lymington needed a confidence booster after the bad loss of the previous week and facing Basingstoke, who are bottom of the table, eased home by seven wickets at the sports ground. It had been a soul searching week for the team and supporters but as captain Gareth Berg said there were “strong vibes” and the desire to “keep going” ensuring a disciplined performance. Thanks are due to Les Mondry-Flesch who sponsored the game having an interest in both camps.

Lymington captain Gareth Berg won the toss and put Basingstoke in to bat on a damp morning and a wicket that offered help to the seamers with plenty of swing. The Lymington opening bowlers returned to form with Eddie Withington (4-35) and Berg (3-25) taking the first six wickets, mainly bowled or trapped lbw. Berg is now up to 30 league wickets so far this season, the second highest in the division. The Lymington side got off to a great start as Ronnie Patel making his first Premier Division start of the season took a stunning one handed catch off the bowling of Withington. The Basingstoke innings soon slumped to 20-5 but Ethan O’Donoghue (41) helped support the middle order yet Basingstoke still slipped to 98-8. As the ball lost its shine and the wicket went dead Basingstoke staged something of a recovery as Neil Shelar (40 not out) and Abhijeet Saranath (36) put on 55 for the ninth wicket before Saranath was out stumped by Robbie Hemmings off Monam Abbas (2-35). The innings ended shortly afterwards in the 55th over thanks to Josh Royan (1-14) with the Basingstoke total hardly seeming enough.

With openers Patel (7) and Monam Abbas (12) facing a new ball moving around it was a bit of a struggle especially facing Abhijeet Saranath (2-33) supported by fellow opener Matt Deadman (1-46) and soon slipped to 45-3 with Robbie Hemmings (12) the other victim. Basingstoke sensing they might have a chance of victory reckoned without Ryan Scott (62 not out) and Berg (55 not out) in an unbroken partnership of 115 that saw Lymington home by seven wickets with 30 overs to spare. Scott as always had good technique in his 88 ball knock including nine fours while Berg with his more aggressive batting that included 42 in boundaries in 63 balls but also escaped with a dropped catch.

This coming Saturday Lymington are away to Alton in a limited 50 over game. This will be a tough fixture as Alton are now second in the table having won seven of their last eight games with the other a winning draw. With St. Cross on top of the table and Lymington now third the side need a good result if they are to have any chance of winning the Premier Division with only four games to go.

Photo of Eddie Withington courtesy of Ian Thacker