TWO brilliant centuries in as many days by Sophie Luff gave Somerset Women’s team a flying start to their 2017 campaign in Division 2.

The 23-year-old, who plays men’s cricket for Lympsham and Belvedere CC, came in against Derbyshire at the end of the first over and remained out in the middle until the end of the innings by which time she was unbeaten on 100.

During her time at the crease Luff, who is the acting Somerset skipper, added 61 for the second wicket with Georgina Adcock, who made 20.

When Derbyshire batted they were never in the hunt and were bowled out for 135, with Megan Hodkinson, Nicole Richards and Jackie Hawker claiming two wickets apiece.

On Bank Holiday Monday against Staffordshire at Audley CC the top order batter, who is on the England Academy and plays for the Western Strom, was in the runs again.

After winning the toss and batting, Luff again found herself walking out to bat at the end of the first over.

She then added 42 with Emily Bayliss (26) for the third wicket, 50 with Richards (23) for the fourth and 41 with Lorraine Szczepanski for the seventh and remained unbeaten on 118 as Somerset posted 231 for seven at the end of the 50 overs.

When the hosts batted they were limited to 136 for nine, Hodkinson claiming four for 25, Richard three for 20 while leg spinner Szczepanski bowled a miserly 10 over spell and claimed one for 13.

The Somerset acting captain said: “It was a great start to our season with two strong team performances.

“To get full points from both games is an ideal start but there’s a long way to go and we certainly won’t be taking anyone lightly in Division 2.”

Regarding her own batting, Luff said: “It’s always nice to start the season with a few runs but two tons in two days is pretty special.

“Credit to the girls who stuck around with me, they may have only been small partnerships but they were crucial in getting us maximum batting points in both games.

“Hopefully I can keep producing match winning performances for Somerset this season.”

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LUFF’S club side, Lympsham and Belvedere, enjoyed a winning start to their Shrubbery Hotel Somerset Cricket League Division 4 season as they defeated Huntspill & District by eight wickets on Saturday.

Having won the toss and chosen to field, Nilanjan Chatterjee (3-24), Samuel McCrea (2-32), Callum Neate (1-12) and Jon Youngs (1-31) all took wickets as Huntspill were restricted to 140-7 from their 45 overs.

That total was made to look more than a little below par as Lympsham cruised to victory with 10.4 overs to spare, with Jason Luff’s unbeaten 67, which included six 4s and three 6s, leading the successful chase.

Neil Chadwick ended on 42 not out as Lympsham overcame the early loss of Mike Hosey (7) and Dave Luff (18) to record an opening day success.