Gary Keedy starred with the ball as Lancashire got their pre-season tour of South Africa off to a winning start yesterday.

The left-arm spinner claimed 4-13 off just three overs as the Red Rose beat a Boland XI in a Twenty20 style clash in Cape Town.

The game was reduced because of heavy overnight rain at Boland Park in Paarl - but that couldn't prevent a good first outing of 2007 that brought success with five balls to spare.

"It was a good win for us," confirmed former Clifton wicketkeeper Gareth Cross. "It was also a very useful workout for all the boys involved."

The 22 year-old was selected ahead of first choice keeper Luke Sutton, as captain Mark Chilton and batsman Mal Loye also missed out through illness.

Loye is suffering from a heavy cold, while Chilton was struck down by a dodgy seafood dinner the night before.

Steven Croft, Kyle Hogg and Dominic Cork all chipped in with a wicket apiece as a Boland side that included a couple of first-class players were restricted to 103-8 in soggy conditions.

Stuart Law then helped secure the four wicket victory with an unbeaten 32 as former Atherton youngster Karl Brown hit a valuable 28. Opening batsman Iain Sutcliffe also chipped in with 19.

"They weren't that bad at all. They had a decent bowling attack that was pretty testing," continued Cross.

"It was just a shame that the ground was too wet for a full game. It would have been a decent wicket if it hadn't rained."