Lindfield pair break long-standing records in victory

Having won the toss, visitors St James surprisingly fielded first on a wicket made for batting.

Lindfield started their innings cautiously. After ten overs opening pair Toby Shepperson and Apoorv Wankhade had been restricted to 29 runs.

The next 28 overs ultimately changed the course of the game as Shepperson and Wankhade put on a display of excellent calling, running between the wickets and punishing the bad ball that any schoolboy watching would have learnt a great deal about the game.

The opening partnership of 229 not only broke the club’s first XI league opening partnership set 30 years ago to the day but also set the highest league partnership for any wicket for the first XI.

Wankhade scored a magnificent 130, caught going for his eighth six, acrobatically by Henry Cope on the boundary, from the bowling of Hector Loughton (1-18).

This was soon followed by a wonderful innings from Shepperson (91) who was bowled by Subhan Javaid (1-42).

Charlie Weir added a brisk (20) which helped Lindfield finish on 282-8. Jordan Shaw (3-4) and Cope (3-66) were the best bowlers for St James.

With an asking rate of just over six runs an over, the St James openers Toby Pullan (40) and Loughton (41) wasted no time and after twelve overs St. James were 64-0 and well placed to put pressure on the home side.

However, the introduction of the Phil Weir (2-33) and Harry Choudhary (3-52) showed great composure as they tied up the St James batsman as wickets started to occur at regular intervals.

Despite the best efforts from Oscar Jago-Lewis (35) and Michael Murray (28), St James's couldn’t keep up with the run rate as spin youngsters Alex Pedley (4-43) and Weir (1-29) taking the last five wickets to secure the win for Lindfield.

Lindfield club director of cricket Simon Shivnarain was pleased to get the first league of the season but was not getting carried away.

He said: “One swallow doesn’t make a summer, but it is great for the lads to get their first win.

“There is room for improvement in all aspects of our game but importantly we have a great team spirit which shone through today.”

Next week Lindfield travel to their local rivals Burgess Hill CC.

LINDFIELD CC 2ND XI

Lindfield CC 2nd XI travelled to Ditchling CC last Saturday in Division 6 Central and were asked to bat first.

The visitors struggled against the home bowlers as Robert Kemp (2-23) and Ned Dean (1-29) soon sent the Lindfield opening batsmen Rob Minter and James Colvin back to the Pavilion.

However, Jayson Butler (48), Ryan Tooms (67), Adam Wright (23) and Will Saunders (16) together with 12th man extras (27) allowed Lindfield to reach a competitive score of 210 from their 40 overs.

For Ditchling, Andrew Westgate (2-55) and Dan Gorringe (3-39) bowled well to restrict Lindfield.

In reply Ditchling lost opener Matthew Searle for a duck, but Hamish Nolan (32), Rory Leadsom (57), Gorringe (42) and Mike Nolan (26), put the home side in a winning situation with wickets and overs in hand.

However, the introduction of skipper Gareth Court (2-21), Jack Gorton (1-36) and Wright (4-15) gave the visitors a chance of victory but a unbroken last wicket partnership of eight saw Ditchling across the line to reach 211- 9 in the 35th over.

Lindfield 2s play at home to Burgess Hill CC 2nd XI this week on the Common at 1pm.

LINDFIELD CC 3RD XI

Lindfield CC 3rd XI lost their first game of the season playing at home to Ardingly CC in Division 9 Central.

Despite a solid 43 from skipper Scott Clark and another fine batting performance from Matt Hay’s 97 as well as a rapid 32 from Dave Fricker the final score of 208 always looked difficult to defend.

Despite some early setbacks, Alex May (87) and Abhijit Lohokare (85 in 37 balls) took a liking to the home bowlers and short boundary as the visitors reached their target in 22.2 overs.

This week Lindfield 3s are away to Staplefield CC, with the game getting underway at 1pm.

LINDFIELD CC 4TH XI

In the reverse fixture, Lindfield CC 4th XI played away to Ardingly CC 2nd XI in Division 12 Central (North) and came away with a fine nine-wicket win to remain top of the league.

On winning the toss, Lindfield restricted Ardingly to 126-9 in their 40 overs through fine bowling from Peter Booth (4-18) who was well support by James Campbell (2-20).

Only Imthiyaz Ahamed (72) and Neil Hawkins (12) reached double figures.

The Lindfield innings was built around a fine undefeated 78 by skipper Dan Baker who was well supported by Chris Maynard (13) and Oscar Jeperson (20) as Lindfield reached their target in 21.5 overs.

Skipper Dan Baker said: "It was a great team performance with everyone playing their part, especially the youngsters."

This week Lindfield have a free week. They play their next match in two weeks at home to Scaynes Hill CC 3rd XI at 1pm.