A batting collapse of epic proportions cost Spalding Town the chance of pulling off what would have been an impressive Lincs ECB Premier League victory at Scunthorpe on Saturday.
Town were cruising at 123-1 at Heslam Park after being put into bat by their hosts, but the departure of Jon Manton (73) triggered an avalanche of wickets as they slumped to 128 all out.
Nilantha Atapattu took 4-37 as Spalding made a real fist of their attempts to bowl Scunthorpe out in their reply, but they got over the line with a score of 130-7.
With Spalding full of confidence after beating Grantham last time out, they looked set to take another big scalp against a Scunthorpe side that are capable of scoring plenty of runs.
Town’s opening pair of Manton (73) and Mitch Freeman (26) didn’t seem fazed by being thrown into bat and continued their fine form with an opening stand of 98.
Manton was the aggressor with 12 fours in his 88-ball knock, while Aussie all-rounder Freeman was more watchful as he found the rope three times and scored at a rate of 53.06.
It was Freeman who was the first man out, bowled by an on-form Joshua Knapton (6-18).
Still, there was no sign of a collapse at this point as Joe Broomfield (12) joined Manton and the pair moved the score on to 123-1 before the carnage ensued.
Indeed, Town went on to lose nine wickets for just five runs to go from looking like posting 200-plus to all out in just 33.5 overs.
Nauman Abid (1-21) got the ball rolling for the home side by clean bowling Manton, then Knapton bowled Broomfield without any more runs being added.
Likewise, Knapton then went on a remarkable spree to bowl Chris Dring (0), have Atapattu caught (0), bowl Jay White for a golden duck and trap Matt Gill (0) LBW to change the score from 123-2 to 126-7.
The wickets continued to tumble as Thomas Giles (3-28) cleaned up the tail, bowling Michael Morris (1) and Keilin Spurdens (0) before pinning Carl Andrews LBW for a golden duck to finish Spalding off.
If they were shell-shocked, Spalding didn’t show it and soon had Scunthorpe on the back foot in their reply.
Atapattu was the man to strike early as he got Scott Nicolson LBW for a two-ball duck, then got rid of Henry Wilson (0) to leave the hosts on 6-2.
Brandon Andrews (2-40) then had Ian Snowden (5) caught, before Atapattu struck again to get Scunny skipper Karanjit Bansal (21).
If the home side looked in trouble at 29-4, things soon got worse as Atapattu’s magic continued with the wicket of Jamar Ifill (4).
However, a partnership between Savraj Nijjar (25) and David Brown (24) dug the hosts out of their hole and moved the score on to 81 before the game looked to take another twist.
It was Andrews who broke the partnership by taking the scalp of Brown, before Freeman (1-35) got Nijjar soon after.
However, Knapton (11 not out) and Giles (31 not out) kept their cool and enjoyed an unbeaten stand of 47 to get Scunthorpe over the line.
The defeat leaves Spalding ninth in the table ahead of Saturday’s game at second-placed Sleaford (11.30am).
