Market Rasen CC batsmen toil in cup final dress rehearsal

Market Rasen CC First XI travelled to Nettleham on Saturday for a dress rehearsal of next month's George Marshall Trophy final.
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Nettleham won the toss and elected to field on what was already a damp pitch at Mulsanne Park after the overnight rain.

The home side got off to a brilliant start as they had Rasen in all kinds of trouble on 12-3 after only eight overs.

Matt Rutherford and Chris Higgins then halted the fall of wickets as they put on a stand of 44 for the fourth wicket.

But with conditions suiting the bowlers, the visitors found runs hard to come by and after Rutherford fell for 36, followed shortly by Higgins for 35, Rasen went into survival mode and managed to bat out their 50 overs on 111-8.

In reply Nettleham managed to face only two overs before the rain came and the match was abandoned.

* Market Rasen’s Second XI welcomed Outcasts second team to Rase Park on Saturday as they looked to push on in Lincs League Division Two.

The hosts won the toss and elected to field first, taking a wicket in only the second over of the match.

But despite the early setback, Outcasts played some aggressive cricket as they reached 32-2 after 10 overs.

When Gary Bierlein and Dan Norburn were introduced to the attack, the flow of runs stopped as they grabbed three quick wickets to leave Outcasts struggling on 53-5.

After the drinks break, the visitors produced another period of aggressive cricket and struck seven fours and a six in three overs.

But with some good fielding and tight bowling, Rasen were able to restrict Outcasts to 126-9 after their 45 overs.

Dan Norburn was the pick of the bowlers with 5 for 33 from his 11 overs.

With the forecast not looking too good and the clouds gathering, Rasen took an aggressive approach to chasing down the score as it looked unlikely that the game would reach the full 90 overs.

Despite losing an early wicket, Neil Davies and Jon Stephenson shared a stand of 32 in seven overs as they tried to score as quickly as possible. Stephenson fell for 20 and, despite Davies continuing to attack, the rain came with the score on 59-2, forcing the game to be abandoned after only 13 overs.