Lymington underlined the value of bowling straight and at the stumps, hitting the wickets seven times and trapping three other Portsmouth batsmen leg before as they celebrated a significant 82-run win to establish a tidy lead at the top of the ECB Southern Premier League.
It's given table topping Lymington a 15 point advantage at the mid-point of the season, which continues with a Sports Ground visit from neighbours Bashley (Rydal) on Saturday, 11am.
Beating Portsmouth was far from straightforward as Lymington, despite a fine start by one-time UK junior swimming champion Robbie Hemmings (40), lurched to 93-6 against three-wicket pair Joe Kooner-Evans (3-34) and Rak Rao (3-39).
But Lymington's lower order responded to a lunchtime pep talk from skipper Gareth Berg [left] and moved onto 137-9 (Guy Layman 18) before teen Albert Adkins, with a quick fire 27, and Asad Abbas (15) added 38 for the last wicket, helping to shift the momentum very much in Lymington’s favour.
With the ball nipping about off the seam, Lymington's bowlers proved a real handful with Berg wrecking their top order with a devastating 13-ball spell.
Dan Wimble’s men made a poor start when Ben Duggan – with two centuries in his previous three innings – was bowled by Aussie Ed Whittingham for a single.
Portsmouth then advanced to 24-1 before skipper Berg claimed three key wickets in as many overs.
With the last ball of his third over, he bowled Mohammed Ashraful for eight. With the fourth ball of his fourth over, Harry Gadd was trapped leg before for a three-ball duck.
That meant Duggan, Ashraful and Gadd – who entered the fixture as the Premier Division's leading run scorers – had managed just nine between them.
It got worse for Portsmouth as Wimble also saw his stumps rearranged off the final ball of Berg’s fifth over. That left them 40-4, and before they knew it they were 53-9 with Guy Layman (4-16) having removed Sujeeth Daini (a golden duck), Freddie Gadd (3), Henry Woolf (2) and top scorer Joe Kooner-Evans (29), the latter having been promoted to open in the absence of the unwell Carlin Joy.
It's given table topping Lymington a 15 point advantage at the mid-point of the season, which continues with a Sports Ground visit from neighbours Bashley (Rydal) on Saturday, 11am.
Beating Portsmouth was far from straightforward as Lymington, despite a fine start by one-time UK junior swimming champion Robbie Hemmings (40), lurched to 93-6 against three-wicket pair Joe Kooner-Evans (3-34) and Rak Rao (3-39).
But Lymington's lower order responded to a lunchtime pep talk from skipper Gareth Berg [left] and moved onto 137-9 (Guy Layman 18) before teen Albert Adkins, with a quick fire 27, and Asad Abbas (15) added 38 for the last wicket, helping to shift the momentum very much in Lymington’s favour.
With the ball nipping about off the seam, Lymington's bowlers proved a real handful with Berg wrecking their top order with a devastating 13-ball spell.
Dan Wimble’s men made a poor start when Ben Duggan – with two centuries in his previous three innings – was bowled by Aussie Ed Whittingham for a single.
Portsmouth then advanced to 24-1 before skipper Berg claimed three key wickets in as many overs.
With the last ball of his third over, he bowled Mohammed Ashraful for eight. With the fourth ball of his fourth over, Harry Gadd was trapped leg before for a three-ball duck.
That meant Duggan, Ashraful and Gadd – who entered the fixture as the Premier Division's leading run scorers – had managed just nine between them.
It got worse for Portsmouth as Wimble also saw his stumps rearranged off the final ball of Berg’s fifth over. That left them 40-4, and before they knew it they were 53-9 with Guy Layman (4-16) having removed Sujeeth Daini (a golden duck), Freddie Gadd (3), Henry Woolf (2) and top scorer Joe Kooner-Evans (29), the latter having been promoted to open in the absence of the unwell Carlin Joy.
Joe Kooner-Evans had a decent game for Portsmouth : Dave Reynolds
Stephen Warner (15 not out) and Rakshith Rao (15) added 30 for the last wicket, the highest stand of the innings, as the visitors were routed for 93.
That dropped Portsmouth to seventh in the 10-team table – though still 35 points ahead of second-bottom South Wilts.
As for former Hampshire all-rounder Berg, his 3-21 haul took his season league wickets haul to 21 – more than any other Premier Division bowler.
With St Cross Symondians losing to Alton and Bashley (Rydal) unexpectantly losing at Basingstoke, Lymington are now 15 points clear at the top and no doubt dreaming of a first top flight title for 40 years.
That dropped Portsmouth to seventh in the 10-team table – though still 35 points ahead of second-bottom South Wilts.
As for former Hampshire all-rounder Berg, his 3-21 haul took his season league wickets haul to 21 – more than any other Premier Division bowler.
With St Cross Symondians losing to Alton and Bashley (Rydal) unexpectantly losing at Basingstoke, Lymington are now 15 points clear at the top and no doubt dreaming of a first top flight title for 40 years.
