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Lymington trounce Andover to claim SEC Cup Mike Vimpany - 3 August 2001
Lymington became the inaugural winners of the Southern Electric Contracting Cup when they ruthlessly outplayed Andover to win by a nine-wicket margin at the Hampshire Rose Bowl last night. It was the first time Lymington had won the Premier League knockout in 25 attempts, but they did so in emphatic style. Andover, who had piled up 160-plus scores in all four matches leading up to the final, were never at the races on a worn, spinner-friendly surface. The Rose Bowl strip, used for Hampshire's weekend victory over the Australians, was predictably fully exploited by Lymington's three-pronged spin attack. Man-of-the-match Daniel Peacock and Glyn Treagus bowled 12 overs of telling off-spin - the Zimbabwean extracting bounce and turn which the Andover batsmen were unable to handle. "We didn't perform on the night," said a disappointed Andover captain Jerry Hayward. "But we ran into two class spinners who excelled on a pitch which was alien to the Premier League surfaces we normally encounter on Saturdays." Andover didn't make a bad start - they had 30 on the board before Paul Allen had Ian Langdown caught in the sixth over - but it was not as positive as they would have liked. Allen, bowling an effective five-over spell of left-arm seam at the northern end, had Australian Sam Miller caught behind in his next over. Marc Kavanagh endeavoured to keep the scoreboard ticking, but by the tenth over Lymington had their spinners operating in tandem - and Andover's middle-order gave way. Peacock's bounce, rather than actual turn, caused no end of problems, while Treagus maintained a steady, nagging line. Jerry Hayward and Neil Staddon, coming together at a desperate 55-5, picked up what runs they could, but Andover were never going to be in a position to defend 95-8 off 22 overs. It didn't take hard-hitting Australian Brian Clemow and Treagus long to knock off the runs - a mere 12.3 overs, in fact. Clemow lashed nine fours in an unbeaten 52, scored off 42 balls, and with Treagus (33) alongside swept Lymington to the brink of victory. Mark Miller at least spared Andover the ignominy of a ten-wicket drubbing when he bowled Treagus, but there was no halting Lymington's march to their first ever Premier knockout trophy. But triumphant Lymington captain Neil Trestrail will quickly focus his cup winning team's attentions on the coming weekend. "We've got Portsmouth in an absolutely crucial Premier 2 match on Saturday and, being in third place, that's a game we must win," he said. © Mike Vimpany / The Daily Echo / SEPCL
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