Eastbourne skipper: Beating Hastings sets us up for run-in

Eastbourne CC skipper Jacob Smith hailed a derby win over Hastings that has set his side up for an exciting second half of the season.
Eastbourne beat Hastings in a rain-hit matchEastbourne beat Hastings in a rain-hit match
Eastbourne beat Hastings in a rain-hit match

The men from The Saffrons are fifth in the Sussex Premier at the season’s halfway point and were delighted to beat Hastings by five wickets in a match shortened to the T20 format after rain.

Aiden Plumley and Smith each took two wickets as Priory were restricted to 142-6 – then Scott Lenham’s unbeaten 52 and a quickfire 39 not out by Ben Remfry got the job done with just two balls to spare.

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Smith said: “We played a T20 game as the square took ages to dry. It’s always a sweet win against a local rival and to get home in a tight finish made it that bit sweeter.

“Scott Lenham played a really mature knock – 140 isn’t a huge score to chase in the professional game but in club cricket it can be hard to sustain the momentum needed in a chase without losing too many wickets.

“We lost a couple early and Scott was the glue that held the innings together.

“Then Ben Remfry’s innings was pretty special. It was his first game at The Saffrons since joining us from Horley and none us wa really expecting him to strike the ball as cleanly as he did.

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“I know he could play but not quite like that! It bodes very well for the rest of the season and the future.”

Smith said it had been a rollercoaster season fore his team o far, not helped by poor weather.

“We’ve probably struggled due to a lack of consistency in availability,” he said.

“A few of the guys have contracts with Sussex now, which is great and we’re so proud of them, but we’ve also had a few more injuries and babies being born than a usual summer too.

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“The league does seem very wide open so far. We’re pretty happy to be right in the mix with the other teams at the top, and we’ve given ourselves a good base to push on in the second half .”

Eastbourne host Preston Nomads tomorrow.

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