TEENAGE sensation Liam Dawson is being tipped to follow in the footsteps of England ace Jon Lewis after a vital half century kept Wiltshire's Lord's dream alive at Trowbridge yesterday.

After watching the Chippenham batsman guide Wiltshire to a Minor Counties Knockout cup tie win over Buckinghamshire by 22 runs, manager Neil Shardlow is predicting Dawson could do similar things in the sport to Swindon seamer and Gloucestershire captain Lewis, nicknamed Rocky.

The 16-year-old has already been snapped up by Hampshire's academy and after two match winning innings in successive weeks, Shardlow admits he has something special'.

His 56 came in the nick of time to help the hosts post a reasonable target of 144, despite struggling at 6 for 3 at one point, and then a five wicket haul for South Wilts' James Hibberd finished the job off.

Shardlow said: "Liam has held us together. It was a cracking innings for the second week on the trot.

"We have not batted well but he has rescued us.

"He is an exceptional player who is going to go a long way in the game.

"We are lucky to have him at the moment and hopefully he can play as many games as possible.

"He has got an old head on young shoulders, can play both forms of the game and is just a breathtaking prospect.

"I am sure he can take inspiration from watching Lewis do what he has done."

With one win and a defeat under their belts in the group format of the cup, Wiltshire knew a win at Trowbridge would set up an all-or-nothing clash at Cambridgeshire at the weekend, with a semi-final spot up for grabs.

With the final due to be played at Lord's, Wiltshire have given themselves a great chance but it didn't look that way in a disastrous opening spell that saw them reduced to 6-3.

Wickets continued to fall with Paul Sampson doing the damage for the visitors with 4-32 off 10 overs, but Dawson (56) and Alex Senneck (22) added late runs to give Wiltshire an outside chance at 144-9.

In reply, Buckinghamshire seemed to be cruising towards the total at 37 for one but then three quick wickets, including a superb caught and bowled by James Golding, turned the tide in Wiltshire's favour with Bucks 45-4.

From there there was only ever going to be one winner with Hibberd taking the plaudits with the ball and only narrowly missing out on a hat-trick.

A 34-run last wicket partnership raised the nerves around the Trowbridge ground but when Alex Senneck bowled Arat Saleem to dismiss Bucks for 122, Wiltshire were able to breathe again.

Shardlow said: "We said beforehand we did not want to make the long trip to Cambridgeshire with nothing to play for.

"We know we have to bat better but we have again showed great character to come through in the end."