A remarkable double-hundred from Jake Polland sentenced South Lincs and Border League Premier Division basement boys Moulton Harrox to another damaging defeat on Saturday.
The Belton Park opener hit an incredible 30 fours and four sixes in his unbeaten innings of 201, as the hosts declared on a whopping 330-3 from just 39 overs.
New Harrox skipper James Cornwell (1-46), Laurence Price (1-99) and Kevin Cornwell (1-22) all took wickets for Moulton, but it was tough day in the field for them.
In reply, Moulton were toiling at 30-5 as four of their top five were out for ducks. Skipper Cornwell offered some stubborn resistance with a defiant 59, but the visitors were soon all out for just 131 in the 40th over. Tom Ward (3-34), Harry Brewin (2-23) and Luke Pollard (2-35) did most of the damage with the ball as Belton wrapped up a huge 199-run success – leaving Harrox 49 points adrift at the foot.
Their nearest rivals are actually fellow South Holland side Long Sutton, who suffered their tenth loss of the campaign against Woodhall Spa 2nd at Jubilee Park.
Sutton lost skipper Phil Barnes (1) and fellow opener Chris Booth (3) early on, while Jimmy Wright (11) and Matt Bull (0) also toiled.
Jamie Taylor (29), Luke Lovegrove (20) and Andrew Wright (40) did their best to haul the away side to a respectable total, but they managed just 131 after being bowled out in the 40th over.
Matt Haslam (4-19), Jack Cooke (3-45) and Rob Bee (2-20) were the pick of the Woodhall bowlers.
Undeterred, Sutton made a great start with the ball as Jimmy Wright (2-34) had both Nick Bishop (6) and Bee (1) caught, while Barry Stanway removed Nitin Joachim (9) and Henry Wilson (2).
However, Chris Anderson (67no) and Tom Luffman (28no) enjoyed a strong partnership for the fifth wicket and steered Spa (132-4) home in the 23rd over.
Also beaten in the Premier Division were Spalding Town 2nd, who suffered a 61-run defeat against Grantham 2nd at the Memorial Field.
Despite Ansar Hussain taking 5-54, Grantham posted 174-8 batting first after solid contributions from all of the top five.
Opener Stewart Mudie (39) top scored, but Adrian Wing (32), Dan Ashley (32), Martin Parmley (27) and James Cameron-Clarke (21) all chipped in with decent knocks.
Spalding legend Jim Clarke (3-48) also did well with the ball, though, ensuring that the hosts were chasing a very gettable target. Hopes of a victory, however, soon faded away when Town were reduced to 63-9 in reply.
Ashley absolutely ripped through the top order, taking 7-30 as he got rid of Rob Noble (6), Matt Gill (2), Mike Kearns Snr (0), Hussain (4), Lee Eyett (0), Jordan Butcher (0) and Ashley Bright (0).
Josh Lawrence (17) did offer some resistance, but when he fell all hope looked to be lost.
That was until Jamie Juckes (52) and Clarke (14no) led the most unlikely of fightbacks with a defiant 50 partnership for the tenth wicket. Clarke passed the impressive milestone of 4,000 runs for
Spalding in the process, but Grantham finally wrapped up their win in the 38th over.
Down in Division One, Long Sutton 2nd were also beaten to complete a whitewash for South Holland sides.
High-flying Freiston won the toss and elected to bat first at Paradise Field – but found Sutton’s bowlers in fine form and they dismissed their visitors for 169 in the 36th over.
Skipper Richard Paul (38) was the leading scorer for the away side, while Joe Harrison (3-42), Steven Milnes (2-35), Jimmy Harrison (2-30), Alex Canham (2-11) and Ian Morris (1-42) all bagged wickets for Sutton.
Sadly for the hosts, their batting didn’t quite live up to their efforts in the field. Aaron John (33) fired early in the innings, but Canham (12) was the only other player to manage double figures as Sutton collapsed to 70 all out in 25.3 overs.
