Spa Take 20/20 Crown

The 1st XI won the prestigious Winkworth Cup 20/20 competion on Monday after a thrilling day’s cricket at Sleaford.

Spa overcame Spalding by 23 runs in the first semi-final of the day with starring roles from Jon Cheer (84) with the bat and Tom Dixon (2-23) and 15-year-old Lewis Holmes (2-26) with the ball. For full scorecard click here.

A high scoring affair between Bourne and Bracebridge Heath saw the later claim the remaing spot in the evening’s final which was played in front of a good crowd.

Bracebridge skipper Paul Cook won the toss and elected to bat and got his side off to a flyer with fellow opener Vikram Atri. The pair had raced to 77 in just the fifth over before Cook fell to Holmes via a sharp catch from skipper Jack Luffman. From that point on Bracebridge continued to attack the Spa bowlers but coupled with tidy fielding they stuck to their task exceptionally well to restrict the favourites to below 200. Once again off-spinner Dixon was the pick of the attack claiming 2-24 from his four overs.

Needing 191 to win Spa approached the run chase with confidence and cameos from Ben O’Brien (31 off 18) and Sam Evison (21 off 13) made sure Cheer was well supported. But it was the fourth wicket partnership between Cheer, who would end on 87 not out from 57 balls to claim the Man of the Match award, and wicket-keeper Jack Hughes (41 not out of 17 balls) that took Spa to victory with seven balls to spare. Full scorecard here.

As Lincolnshire champions, Spa will now go on to face the winners of the South Yorkshire competition later in the summer and are just three games away from the National Final which is to be held at Northamptonshire’s Wantage Road ground in front of the Sky cameras in September.