Lindfield powered to victory by swashbuckling Wankhade century

Lindfield were put into bat in a match restricted to 20 overs due to the weather. Opener Apoorv Wankhade dominated the innings scoring a superb swashbuckling 100 in 59 balls before being caught off the bowling of Lewis Shivnarain (3-21), who along with Tom Barnes (0-23) were the only bowlers to subdue Wankhade.

Sajeer Nizam (17) and Toby Shepperson (16) batted well to ensure a competitive Lindfield score as the innings ended on 169-5, setting a target of 8.45 runs per over for Roffey to win.

Having lost opener Mark Pavlovic (duck) from the bowling of Scott Pedley (1-25) Roffey regained momentum with a 47 run partnership between Sachin Nalk (58) and Alex Southon (19) before Simon Shivnarain (2-25) and Harry Chaudhary (2-11) reduced Roffey to 92-6 which included a run out from Charlie Weir.

Having bowled well, Barnes and Lewis Shivnarain now put together an impressive 51 run partnership that closed in on the Lindfield total, but Alex Pedley (1-37) took the vital wicket of Barnes as Roffey ended their 20 overs on 152-7 with Lindfield winning the match by 17 runs.

Skipper Simon Shivnarain said: "Today’s win was really important and provides a good platform to take into next week’s match against leaders Horsham.

"This week marks the half way stage in the league and the reverse of the fixtures. The division is wide open with results showing that any side is capable of beating another.

"The players need to continue to believe in themselves and focus on each match."

The match against Horsham CC on the Common starts at 12.30pm.

LINDFIELD CC 2ND XI

Despite the overnight rain the Lindfield CC 2nd XI's match against Preston Nomads CC 3rd XI in Division 6 Central started on time with Nomads winning the toss and electing to field.

Lindfield soon lost skipper Gareth Court on 16 with the score at 26 but a partnership of 43 between Nathan Pugh (23) and Jayson Butler (34) put Lindfield into an excellent position to post a competitive score of over 200.

Ryan Tooms (20) continued the good work as Lindfield raced to 101-3 after 21 overs. However, an inspired bowling change by Nomads changed the game as the home side collapsed in 7.3 overs as seven wickets for 19 runs fell from the bowling of Louis Venter (4-10) and David Symes (3-3) as Lindfield were bowled out for 120 in 28.3 overs.

In the second part of this thriller, Hashin Riaz (eight) and Ammad Khan (33) opened the batting for Nomads with Lindfield skipper Court deciding to start bowling with the spin of Henry Fowler (1-22) and Luke Sowton (1-20).

After 11 overs with the score on 40-2 Rory Dalgliesh (1-31) was introduced, then Butler (4-13) who, with Dalgliesh, dismissed the middle order for 22 runs.

Butler also took the vital wicket of Khan as Nomads were reduced to 89-7. Nathan Pugh (3-22) then came onto bowl and took the final three wickets as Nomads fell agonisingly sort by seven runs on 113 all out.

This week Lindfield travel to Poynings CC with a 1pm start.

LINDFIELD CC 3RD XI

Lindfield CC 3rd XI played at home to mid-table Three Bridges CC 3rd XI at Hickmans Lane in Division 9 Central and lost a close game by 35 runs.

The match was dominated by the bowlers with the batsman struggling to make runs on a damp, slow pitch and an outfield which hadn’t been cut for two weeks due to the weather conditions.

Lindfield won the toss and restricted Three Bridges to 120 all out. The match winning innings was made by captain Danny Biden (45).

For Lindfield, Bradley Bover used the conditions to his advantage by taking 3-22 while Monty Brown finished 2-12.

Lindfield struggled to gain momentum and always behind the run rate with only Scott Clark (20) and Brown (24) batting with confidence.

The innings closed on 85 all out as Haydon Robinson (3-11) and Tyler Nevill (2-8) caused the visitors trouble.

This week Lindfield 3s entertain top-of-the-table Scaynes Hill CC 2nd XI at Hickmans Lane at 1pm.

LINDFIELD CC 4TH XI

Lindfield CC 4th XI produced another excellent performance at Lingfield CC 4th XI to remain top of Division 12 Central (North).

The game was moved to Lingfield’s main ground after their 2nd XI match was cancelled due to a Covid outbreak amongst their opposition.

Upon winning the toss, Lindfield struggled to make in-roads into Lingfield batting as the home side scored 203-3 in their 40 overs with Martin Britt (52) and Kashif Ehsan (54) batting well.

For Lindfield, Stuart Kirbell (1-40) and James Burnage (0-17) deserved better for their efforts.

In reply, Lindfield started confidently as Hayden Baker (59) and Oscar Jesperson (13) gave the innings a solid start.

From this base, the innings continued to prosper as Burnage (20), Dan Baker (42*) and young Edward Hartley (48*) saw Lindfield home with a six-wicket win. Paul Langtom took 2-20 for Lingfield.

Skipper Baker said: "It was a wonderful performance from the team. The youngsters all performed with credit.

"In particular, Edward Hartley was unfortunate to remain undefeated, two runs short of a well deserved half century’

This week Lindfield travel to Hurstpierpoint CC 3rd XI for a top-of-the-table clash. start 1pm.