Half centuries from captain Ollie Dring (56) and Nilantha Atapattu (54), together with 47 from no.10 batsman Walter Kinlock were not enough to save Spalding from a drop into the bottom two of the Lincs Premier League’s Premier Division.
A 93-run defeat at home to Woodhall Spa saw the visitors leapfrog them in the standings as the campaign reached the halfway stage.
Spalding scored 245/9 from their 50 overs, but were well short of their opponents’ 338/8, in which Tayyab Tahir struck a towering 215, including three 6s and 31 4s.
Kinlock (2-57) and Barnaby Dring (2-66) were the pick of the home bowlers.
Moulton Harrox also face a nervous second half of the season after losing by one wicket to relegation-threatened Grantham Seconds in Championship South.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the visitors chalked up a reasonable 226/7 from their 50 overs, with captain Matt Rose (68) and Ruari Drumm (63) leading the way.
Things looked to be going in Moulton’s favour when Grantham fell to 44/3 and then 114/7, with Rose
(2-20), Alex Baker (2-28) and Harry Lovell (2-44) enjoying success.
However, no.4 bat Michael Greaves proved resolute and his unbeaten 119 proved to be a match-winning innings.
Moulton battled to the end and had the hosts hanging on at 222/9 but Greaves ensured the ninth wicket was the last one to fall, guiding his team to the eight runs they needed for victory, with three balls to spare.
Division One South leaders Long Sutton stayed clear at the top with a four-wicket win at Woodhall Spa
Uddyan Hansana (3-15), Josh Baker (2-26) and Jake Burton (2-26) ensured wickets kept falling, despite the efforts of Spa opener Tyler Cook (44) and Sam Cooke (37), with Dewi Bourke (19no) the only other batsman to reach double figures in their all-out total of 143.
Sutton lost four wickets cheaply in reply but Aron John (31) and Jack Baker (20) shored things up, before Tim Norris (36no) and Barry Stanway (25no) struck an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership that saw their team cross the line with 145/6 after 28 overs.
Moulton Harrox Seconds remain well adrift at the opposite end of the table after losing by 40 runs at home to second-placed Billingborough.
The visitors top order scored well after winning the toss to push their team to 128/1 before wickets started to fall regularly.
Jotham Suwarneraj took 4-32, with all six of his fellow bowlers collecting a wicket as the hosts were bowled out for 206.
Moulton’s replay started badly, with two batsmen out for ducks as they slumped to 7/2. From 13/3 captain Lewis Peak dug in to score 42 and bring some hope to his team.
Zak Maddison (22) and Sonal Martin (19) helped boost the score to 103/5 and, after slipping to 120/8, last three batsmen Freddie Parrish (17no), Shanaka Sumanapala (15) and Suwarneraj (10) lifted them to 166 all out in the 43rd over.
Long Sutton Seconds are still looking for a win in Division Two South after nine games, following a battling 10-run defeat at home to Ketton Sports Seconds.
A big second-wicket partnership between Adam Renton (106) and Tom Symonds (47) proved to be their undoing as the visitors rattled up 221/7, despite a five-wicket haul for Ali Drohan (5-29).
Sutton dug in to stay in the hunt for victory, with Drohan (50), Callum John (43), Paul Rushen (29) and Aaraz Keshwara (18no) scoring well but not quite enough.
The home side ran out of overs on 211/6, 10 runs short of their target.
