All-conquering Lincolnshire County Cricket Club are celebrating back-to-back Eastern Division Championship titles after a comprehensive victory over Hertfordshire at Cleethorpes.
They went into the clash knowing that seven points would clinch them the title for the second successive year, but the team left nothing to chance and took the maximum 24 points on offer.
Lincs made one change from the side that had comprehensively beaten Northumberland, with Harry Warwick (Cleethorpes) replacing the unavailable Ross Dixon.
Hertfordshire won the toss and elected to bat in front of a substantial crowd.
Lincolnshire’s bowlers struck quickly as Hertfordshire were reduced to 61-4 and then 108-7 as Alex Willerton and Andy Carter, with pace and accuracy, demolished their batting line-up.
No stand was more than 25 runs and inside 46 overs the visitors were dismissed for 143.
Willerton, with 5-27 in 16.1 overs, was Lincolnshire’s most successful bowler with Carter (2-24) providing strong back-up.
Lincolnshire had obtained the maximum four bowling points.
When they batted, Louis Kimber and Dan Freeman were dismissed cheaply and, at 58-2, Lincs needed a strong partnership to put them in a commanding position.
Matt Lineker and Conrad Louth provided this and put on 96 before Louth was dismissed for 34.
Lineker finally fell for a fine 98 (11 fours and three sixes) as Lincolnshire lost four late wickets to conclude the day on 210-6, with one batting point secured.
Lincolnshire now needed two further batting points to secure the title and immediately Dominic Brown and Carl Wilson set about the Hertfordshire attack.
Runs flowed quickly with 40 coming in the first half-hour, and they finally reached 275-6 to secure the further two points.
Brown was eventually dismissed for 60 having put on 96 with Wilson.
Lincolnshire concluded their innings after their allotted 90 overs on 345-8, Wilson being not out for an excellent 87 off 103 balls, and had a big first innings lead of 202.
Despite losing an early wicket, Hertfordshire made better progress in their second innings as the pitch had now become a fine batting surface and the bowlers had to toil hard for wickets.
Tanveer Sikandar and James Scott put on 86 for the second wicket before the introduction of Freeman into the attack accounted for Sikandar for 47.
Carter then struck twice to remove Chatfield and Southgate, both caught behind by wicketkeeper Wilson.
Opener Scott was finally bowled by Willerton for 70 and Freeman accounted for Cowell and Palmer.
The second day ended with Hertfordshire on 203-7, just the one run ahead of Lincolnshire.
The Hertfordshire batsmen were not to be dismissed easily on day three, however.
Kazmi and Kulkarni battled hard and kept the scoreboard moving, adding 68 for the eighth wicket before Willerton removed Kulkarni for 32.
Ben Waring then joined Kazmi in a ninth wicket stand of 64 before Brown bowled Kazmi for an excellent 79 to add to his first innings score of 41.
The final wicket also fell to Brown, courtesy of a fine diving catch by Harry Warwick.
Hertfordshire totalled 342, leaving Lincolnshire needing 141 for victory.
Willerton and Freeman each took three wickets, but Carter and Brown, with two apiece had taken crucial wickets at vital stages of the innings.
However, Lincolnshire’s Freeman and then Lineker were dismissed cheaply as the total reached 43-2.
Louth then joined Kimber in a stand of 42 before the former was caught for 31.
Undeterred, Adam Tillcock joined Kimber and they saw Lincolnshire to victory by mid afternoon, Kimber making a fine 54 not out.
Champions by an impressive 25 points, Lincolnshire will now meet Berkshire, the Western Division winners, at Banbury in a three-day match starting on Sunday (August 27-30) in the Championship play-off final.
