LYMINGTON skipper Simon Beetham paid tribute to his players’ powers of recovery after they had gone from zeroes to heroes in less than 24 hours.

Beetham admitted his troops had been left crestfallen following a crushing 106-run defeat by holders South Wilts in the final of the Southern Premier League t20 Cup on Friday.

But after licking their wounds from the Ageas Bowl mauling, Lymington bounced back yesterday to record a stunning six-wicket win over the reigning Premier Division champions.

Victory – spearheaded by Australian under-19 international Damien Mortimer – saw South Wilts toppled from the summit and propelled Lymington into fifth place with two games remaining.

Beetham, a former South Wilts player, told the Daily Echo: “We had mixed fortunes and mixed feelings in the two games. Everyone was gutted to lose the final, especially as we were given a real hiding.

“We knew we had a second dig at them straight away and had to forget about it and start afresh. We showed we were not as bad as the t20 result may have suggested.

“We are a much better side and it just didn’t happen for us in the final. South Wilts are a very strong team and it was very satisfying to set the record straight.

“We bowled well to keep them down to 188 on what we thought was a 240-wicket. We kept calm in the reply, Damien batted really well and we chased it pretty comfortably.”

Despite making a promising start, South Wilts folded from 135 for four to 188 and lost their final three wickets without scoring (Matt Metcalfe 2-35, Ed Freeman 2-37, Mortimer 3-17).

New South Walian Mortimer, the only Lymington player to emerge from the t20 final with any credit, led the reply with a classy ton and remained undefeated at the close.

The 19-year-old hit 16 fours on his way to making a 138-ball 112, dominating a second-wicket stand of 74 with Ryan Scott (22) to lay the foundations for Lymington’s third league win in succession at 192 for four (Felix Ambrose 24*).

Lymington’s victory saw them leapfrog in the table neighbours Bashley following their three-wicket defeat by Ventnor in a low-scoring affair at Newclose.

Nick Baker (46), Luke Webb (35) and Andy Neal (20) were the main contributors as Bashley recovered from 23 for four to post a modest 150.

And although Neal (2-23) made inroads and Sam Thomson, Ross Grierson, Jaron Morgan and James Morris took a wicket apiece, Ventnor edged home at 151 for seven.