​Spoils are shared as Lincs get new season under way

In the first game, Lincolnshire captain Tom Keast chose to bat first and despite a blistering 62 from 26 balls from opener Ben Wright, which featured five sixes, Lincolnshire posted a slightly under par total of 153 for 9.

In reply, Cambridgeshire built their run chase around opening batter Ben Claydon who steered his side home with an over to spare, scoring a superb 96 not out from 54 balls, featuring seven sixes.

In game two it was Lincolnshire who again won the toss and chose to bat first. This time around it was opener Nic Keast who provided the fireworks at the top of the order, crashing 51 from 31 balls.

Keast’s dismissal brought in the experienced Sam Evans who would go on to play the anchor role to Jordan Cook who stole the show by cracking 73 from just 35 balls.

Cook’s innings featured seven sixes including three in three balls in the final over to power Lincs to a total of 193, Evans finishing on 41 not out.

In reply, Cambridgeshire struggled to get going thanks largely to Josh Knapton, whose opening spell yielded three wickets for just 13 runs.

Knapton’s early wickets were backed up with economical spells from Nic Keast and Matty Mills (making his debut for the county) before Cook was introduced into the attack in the closing stages of the match.

Cook rounded off a memorable day by ripping through the Cambridgeshire middle order and claiming the remarkable figures of 5 for 16 from 3.1 overs.

Cambridgeshire were bowled out for 166 in the final over of the game.

One victory each was a fair reflection on what were two high quality, competitive games of T20 cricket.

Lincolnshire now travel to Ipswich School to take on Suffolk in the next round of T20 matches.

*Here at the Gainsborough Standard, we’re always keen to hear about your individual or team exploits and include them on our pages and online.

Send your news via the ‘Submit Your Story’ function on our website at www.lincolnshireworld.co.uk.