Littlehampton bounce back with ten-wicket win

Littlehampton Cricket Club recovered from a West Sussex Invitation League Division 1 opening-day defeat at the hands of rivals Arundel by romping to a ten-wicket win on Saturday.
Littlehampton celebrate a wicket during their win over Crawley Down on Saturday. Picture by Stephen GoodgerLittlehampton celebrate a wicket during their win over Crawley Down on Saturday. Picture by Stephen Goodger
Littlehampton celebrate a wicket during their win over Crawley Down on Saturday. Picture by Stephen Goodger

Kieran Hornsby’s century – then six wickets for the spinner – sent Littlehampton down in their first game of the campaign last time out.

However, with skipper James Askew back in the ranks, they cruised to a ten-wicket victory against Crawley Down.

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Seamer Louis Paul terrorised Down’s top-order batters, dismissing four of their opening five batsmen, before they were bundled out for just 84 in 29.2 overs.

It was a total Littlehampton had no issues in chasing down and they did it with all ten wickets still intact.

Littlehampton captain Askew, who finished unbeaten on 32, was pleased to pick up the victory and said: “It’s our first win in May for a long time, so hopefully this will give the lads confidence and push us on in the coming weeks.

“It was a really good performance where every-thing came together.

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“Louis bowled with good pace and bounce that caused them problems. McLeod (Cox) bowled with excellent control and they were both rewarded.

“When chasing a score like that, it can go one of two ways. We just wanted to make sure we took our time knocking the runs off and did not make hard work of it.

“At the halfway stage, we said winning by ten wickets would be ideal but we just wanted to make sure we won.

“We didn’t want to get to a stage where we were making hard work of it and we managed not to do that, which was pleasing.”

Askew put Crawley Down in and Paul made early inroads.

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Warren Barker (two), Jon Ward (nought), Dan White (nought) and Steve Ward (15) all fell to Paul as Down slumped to 29-5.

McLeod Cox chipped in with three wickets to help Littlehampton take all ten wickets in double-quick time.

Steve Morley top-scored with 36 to offer some resistance but Crawley Down were all out for just 84 in 29.2 overs.

As well as Paul’s four wickets and three for Cox, Nathan Perry finished up with two.

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Littlehampton had little problem chasing the total down – they did so in only 16.4 overs.

Openers Askew and Chris Heberlein guided the home side to a ten-wicket win to get things up and running this season.

Heberlein was unbeaten on 53, made from only 54 balls, while Askew finished up on 32 as Littlehampton reached 87-0.

Askew is now hopeful an early-season success will help spark a positive run. Next up for Littlehampton is a trip to Felbridge and Sunnyside on Saturday.

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He added: “Felbridge is a tricky place to go but we would love to make it two wins from as many matches.

“They are a good side, so we will just have to wait and see what happens and manage the game as it goes.

“As I mentioned earlier, hopefully a first win in May for a long while will give us a great deal of confidence.”

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