Lincolnshire County Cricket Club commenced their 2018 season with two matches against Northumberland at Jesmond in the newly introduced Unicorns T20 competition.
The competition now requires the teams to play two matches in a day.
In the first match Lincolnshire were put in to bat and their innings was dominated by Louis Kimber who scored 162 not out from 55 balls.
His amazing innings included 15 sixes and 12 fours, with 138 runs coming in boundaries.
It saw Lincolnshire reach 290-3 at the end of their allotted 20 overs. Kimber was well supported by Bilal Shafayat (41) and Conrad Louth (32).
Northumberland battled hard to maintain the required run rate but only former Durham, Gloucestershire and England batsman/wicketkeeper Phil Mustard (81) and Matthew Brown (54 not out) posed any serious threat to Lincolnshire’s huge total.
Kimber also excelled with the ball, taking 3 for 33 in his four overs as Northumberland fell 85 runs shy on 205-4.
In the second match, Lincolnshire won the toss and elected to bat. Once again Kimber dominated the innings, making his second century of the day with 112 off 45 balls, hitting seven sixes and 13 fours.
As in the first match, Shafayat again provided strong support with 56. At the end of their 20 overs Lincolnshire totalled 237-7.
Northumberland fared much better in this match and Mustard was again their dominant batsman, making 105 off 48 balls.
His innings was the backbone of Northumberland’s chase for victory with good support again from Brown (77 not out).
The home side reached their target with 13 balls to spare for the loss of only three wickets.
Lincolnshire’s next fixture is at Bracebridge Heath on Sunday, May 20 (11am) when they again face Northumberland in the 50-over a side knockout competition.
This was a competition in which Lincolnshire reached the final in 2017.
Having received a bye in the first round a place in the quarter final is at stake – and if the above matches are replicated it will be some match.
