A stellar century from Stewart Mudie put Moulton Harrox to the sword on Saturday as they suffered a 127-run defeat against Grantham 2nd.
Opener Mudie made 101 in Grantham’s 230-8 at Harrox Field, before Moulton were knocked over for 103 in 34.2 overs in reply.
The defeat, which saw Moulton bag just five points, is just their second defeat of the season but drops them down to second-from-bottom in the early standings.
It was Grantham who won the toss and opted to bad, which proved a wise decision by skipper Mudie.
He and opening partner Martin Parmley (41) took a liking to the Broad Lane track and set about building a great foundation for the innings.
When Parmley was finally removed by Stephen Coles (2-35), Junior Singh Gangotra (34) came in and picked up where he left off.
Thuva Murali (2-64) eventually had Gangotra stumped by Jake Morton, but Mudie continued to make hay at the top of the order.
Further contributions came from Danny Ashley (19) and D’ahri Hughes-Francis (18) kept him company, but Murali soon had the former LBW and Lee Eyett dismissed Hughes-Francis.
The tail failed to wag for the visitors as Eyett (4-40) bamboozled Sam Lythgoe (1), JJ Singh Gangotra (1) and Isuru Vidanagamage (1), while Coles got Matt Barry for a duck.
But the masterful Mudie carried his bat and just completed his century before Grantham closed out their 45 overs.
Sadly for Moulton, nobody was able to play that kind of innings in their reply.
Indeed, six of their top seven saw their stumps rearranged in pursuit of their target.
Much of the damage was done by Jared Hackney (4-42), Rahul Kumar (3-37) and Barry (2-12), who all bowled well.
Openers Matt and Jack Barnett both scored 13, while Karl Hibbert was out for a duck.
Skipper Chris Beale did offer some resistance with a solid score of 32, but Matt Rose (6) and Morton (3) both fell cheaply to expose the tail.
None of the lower order were able to make an impact, with Lewis Martin (8), Eyett (2), Travis Harrison (5) and Coles (4) all out without making a mark to seal Grantham’s success.
Moulton face a trip to leaders Newborough this Saturday (1pm).
