South Wilts 299-7 bt OTs & Romsey 140 by 159 runs

A SENSATIONAL century from Tim Lamb set up a convincing 159-run win over bottom club OTs & Romsey to move South Wilts ever closer towards the ECB Southern Premier League title.

It was a return to the 50-over win/lose format and Romsey skipper Jodey Brown won the toss and decided to bowl first on what was an uncomfortably hot day.

"We were more than happy to bat first, that's what we would have done anyway," said South Wilts skipper Rob Wade.

"No doubt he did it because they'd won their first game of the season the week before chasing, but I think if I'd won the toss and chosen to bowl, some of my players would have strung me up!"

However, just as in last week's game with Liphook, the decision looked initially to be a good one as the Salisbury side stuttered to 17-3.

With the wicket crumbling from the very first ball, batting was proving to be very difficult against youngster Henry Lamb and New Zealander Scott Shirley.

When Wade was out the scoreboard did not look too healthy at 51-4 off 16 overs.

Lamb joined Jon Chandler in the middle and set about their rescue act.

With the erratic bounce that the loose surface was creating, the pair were very careful at first, but when the spinners were introduced the tempo of the innings changed dramatically and the run rate soared.

Chandler, who had played such a crucial role in the win over Liphook, again looked in fine nick as he produced an innings of great control and maturity.

Lamb meanwhile, was hitting boundary after boundary as the Romsey bowling and fielding disintegrated in the heat. He moved to his fifty off 51 balls, followed shortly after by Chandler completing his off 73 balls.

Lamb then monopolised the scoring as he moved to his hundred off 96 balls.

The fifth-wicket partnership, which took just 29 overs, had reached a Southern League record of 185, when Chandler finally fell for a splendid 73.

The relief for Romsey was short-lived as Dan Webb blazed his first ball to the cover boundary. A quick-fire 40 partnership ended when Webb, 20 off 13 balls, was trapped by Henry Lamb (4-48).

Lamb had continued unabated at the other end though sadly, he holed out off the penultimate ball of the innings for 145.

His knock, which had transformed the game, had taken just 119 balls and included 17 fours and a six.

Alan Kruger then completed Romsey's misery by hitting the last ball for four to end the innings on 299-7.

"At 50-4, I have to admit I was a little worried," admitted Wade. "But once again our recovery was awesome and the game was over at tea."

Alan Kruger provided an early breakthrough as Eddie Abel clung on a stinging square cut from Longland and then James Tomlin-son had the Romsey skipper Brown caught at slip by Kruger to leave Romsey tottering at 19-2.

With the result beyond any reasonable doubt, Wade opted to rest Kruger, which allowed Romsey some respite.

"Alan's had a little niggle so there was no point in him aggravating it. He wanted to carry on but it wasn't necessary," explained Wade.

Lysander Wolf bowled a tidy spell of 6 overs for just 16 runs while Tomlinson finished with 1-14 off his six overs, as Wayne Lockey, 28, and Scott Shirley, 38, dug in to provide some resistance.

South Wilts opted for spin all the way from the 16th over onwards with Abel and James Hayward looking to exploit the increasingly worn surface.

Although there are no draws in the 50 over format, South Wilts needed to take wickets to pick up their bonus points.

Finally in the 28th over with the score at 87-2, Hayward got the breakthrough as he trapped Lockey lbw and when he bowled Shirley in his next over, the victory march had begun.

Abel bowled seven overs for 18 and was unfortunate not to get any reward, but Jason Laney then displayed his off-spinning talents by making short work of the tail.

Tempting the batsmen to hit over the top, Laney took 5-31 off just 5.5 overs.

Hayward picked up another wicket to finish with 3-33 off his ten overs. The end had come swiftly with the last eight wickets falling in just 12 overs as Romsey closed on 140 all out.

On Saturday, South Wilts face second-placed Havant who will be buoyed by their astonishing ten-wicket demolition of Lip-hook, having bowled them out for just 38.

However, one more win will almost certainly secure Wade's side their first Southern League title since 1990.

SOUTH Wilts' seconds remain perilously close to the relegation places after losing a remarkable game against Portsmouth & Southsea by just three runs.

A better bowling and fielding performance by the hosts did not give the high-flying visitors the luxuries that have been offered to other opposing sides this season.

Overseas player Russell, 76, and the experienced Pike, 31, were the main contributors in the total of 227 all out.

Seamers Adam Smith, 4-34, Jason Lynch, 3-79, and Ross Crick all bowled well.

But South Wilts' reply proved dismal and any chance of picking up a much-needed win looked to have disappeared as they slumped to 90-9 against Russell 4-44 and Tiller 3-37.

However, Smith and Lynch produced an astonishing fightback. With plenty of overs left, they dug in and with some calculated hitting and excellent running between the wickets, they produced a league record last wicket stand of 134.

Smith hit an undefeated 66 and Lynch 50, but with an improbable victory just one hit away, Lynch edged one. A couple of inches more and the ball would have flown to the boundary, but the 'keeper took a superb low diving catch.

Meanwhile, South Wilts' thirds turned in a spirited performance against a strong BAT II. Buoyed by the presence of a second club overseas player in Michael Pinney, 80, and the club's injured first team skipper Richard Dibden, 60 not out, BAT comfortably overhauled South Wilts' target with five wickets in hand.

Colin Moody, 60, and Andy Stagg, 59, had earlier both batted well to post a decent South Wilts total of 196-5.

Fine bowling performances from Jono Elford, 5-48, and Dave Hancock, 2-44, could not prevent Stockton posting an ominous 238-9. In reply, South Wilts were never in the hunt, despite a spirited 51 from Al McLuskey and 31 from the consistent Tom Pearce.