Wilson reaches two milestones as Lincs CCC beat leaders to move up to second

Captain Carl Wilson reached two milestones as Lincolnshire CCC climbed up to second in the Eastern Division table.
Captain Carl Wilson in action behind the stumps. Photo: Photo John Van-der-VordCaptain Carl Wilson in action behind the stumps. Photo: Photo John Van-der-Vord
Captain Carl Wilson in action behind the stumps. Photo: Photo John Van-der-Vord

Wilson claimed his 100th victim behind the stumps and reached 1,000 runs for the county as his side got back to winning ways, defeating league leaders Suffolk at Cleethorpes.

Lincolnshire were without six of their regular players and fielded a much-changed side.

On winning the toss they elected to bat on a warm, sunny day.

Progress was slow and after 35 overs they were 79 for 4.

At this point Dan Freeman joined Ben Coddington.

Together they batted most of the afternoon and added 133 for the fifth wicket before Freeman was dismissed for a fine 86.

Carl Wilson soon followed and when Ben Coddington was caught on the boundary for 82, Lincolnshire were 247 for 7.

Usman Arshad and Matthew Fowler then added an unbroken 69 for the eighth wicket, Arshad being particularly severe on the opposition’s bowling, finishing with 43 not out.

At the conclusion of their allotted 90 overs Lincolnshire were 316 for 7.

Suffolk were now faced with a tricky 17 overs until the close of play. Lincolnshire struck

immediately as Dan Freeman bowled the dangerous Jaik Mickleburgh for nought.

Together with Usman Arshad, Freeman put pressure on the Suffolk batsmen and by close of play had reduced them to 30 for 3.

Day one was Lincolnshire’s and Dan Freeman’s day.

On day two Lincolnshire’s objective was to take early wickets and hopefully obtain a useful first-innings lead.

Early signs were not good but once Usman Arshad bowled Jack Beaumont in the 28th over wickets began to fall.

Arshad bowled with considerable pace and was well supported by Dan Freeman and Shiv Thakor.

No Suffolk batsman reached 30 and their innings concluded in the 55th over on 170.

Arshad with 4 for 38 and Freeman with 4 for 52 were the main architects of Suffolk’s collapse.

With a first innings lead of 146 Lincolnshire now looked to extend that to over 400.

The top five batsmen all contributed well to this task with Joe Kendall (67), Sam Johnson (55) and Ben Coddington (42) being the main run scorers.

Towards the end of the day Carl Wilson (32 not out) and James Dobson (29 not out) added an unbroken 61 for the eighth wicket to take Lincolnshire’s total to 279 for 7, a lead of 425.

Lincolnshire declared overnight and set about the task of dismissing the Suffolk batsmen.

An early wicket by Dan Freeman made the breakthrough and by lunch Suffolk had lost three wickets.

The intense heat necessitated a rotation of bowlers but all the time Suffolk’s opener, Jaik Mickleburgh, stood firm and defied the Lincolnshire attack.

With the total on 119 Shiv Thakor made the breakthrough and this was quickly followed by two more wickets as Suffolk were reduced to 120 for 6.

Now the home side smelt victory.

Two more wickets fell with the total on 143, Shiv Thakor doing the damage.

Little resistance followed and around 4pm Lincolnshire completed the task as the visitors were all out for 156, leaving Lincolnshire who had taken seven wickets in the afternoon session, winners by 269 runs.

For the visitors, opener Jaik Mickleburgh carried his bat for a patient 62 not out.

Shiv Thakor with 5 for 21 in 14 overs was Lincolnshire’s most successful bowler.

Lincolnshire took 23 points from the match and Suffolk took 3 points.

Lincolnshire’s next Championship fixture is at Norwich commencing on Sunday, August 4 when they face Norfolk.