Lincs begin season with victory

Lincolnshire's Gareth Clough was bowled by Huw Waters for 11

Lincolnshire began their Minor Counties season with a 20-run victory over Wales in their MCCA knock-out trophy group match at Woodhall Spa.

Batting first, Lincolnshire made 283-8 with Mathew Dowman, Paul Cook and Vikram Atri all hitting half-centuries, while Huw Waters took six wickets.

In reply Mike O'Shea and Will Bragg put on 121 for Wales' opening wicket.

But a combination of tight bowling and sharp fielding reduced Wales from 189-2 to 263-9 at the end of their 50 overs.

Gareth Clough was the pick of Lincolnshire's bowlers, taking three wickets.

Captain Rob Cook told BBC Radio Lincolnshire: "Wales made a good game of it and probably should have won today but our fielding was excellent, we took pretty much all of our chances and that was the difference.

"Wales didn't field too well and probably let an extra 20 runs slip, whereas our fielding was spot-on and probably saved 20 runs."

Director of Cricket Mark Fell said: "It was a whole team performance. I thought we'd lost the game with 25 overs to go, but it wasn't a case of them throwing it away, we fought back well."

Lincolnshire's next match in the MCCA knock-out trophy is against Buckinghamshire at Wing on Sunday, 10 May.

MCCA Knock-Out Trophy Group 4 (Woodhall Spa, 50 overs):

Lincolnshire 283-8 (Dowman 78, Atri 69, P Cook 56; Waters 6-51); Wales 263-9 (O'Shea 73)