A virtuoso display from captain Jonathan Miles helped Spalding Town defeat South Lincs and Border League Premier Division title rivals Bourne 2nd by 90 runs on Saturday.
The skipper top scored with an unbeaten 56 as Town posted 190-8 batting first at the Memorial Field amid windy conditions.
Miles then starred with figures of 5-12 as Spalding bowled out Bourne for just 100 in reply – propelling themselves ten points clear at the top of the table in the process.
After being put into bat, Spalding did well to post a respectable total considering the winds in excess of 50mph.
Opener Jon Manton scored an impressive 55, but Joe Broomfield (8) was bowled by Adam Hilless (3-44) early on.
Josh Newton added 17 before being caught and bowled by Xanti Xipu (1-36), which brough Miles and Manton together.
They scored the bulk of the runs, with Ethan Lawrence (0), Matt Gill (8), Mo Alam (0) and Will Naylor (0) all falling cheaply after Ben Woodward (1-22) bowled Manton.
Jack Barratt did add ten down the order, setting Bourne 2nd 191 to win.
James Tickler (30) top scored at the head of Bourne’s reply, but Spalding’s bowling was top drawer.
Miles’ five-fer led the charge, but Harry DeCamps (3-17), Naylor (1-23) and Barratt (1-32) also did their bit.
Town visit South Holland rivals Long Sutton on Saturday (1pm) as they bid to build up a title-clinching advantage.
Sutton go into that clash fresh off the back of a heavy 122-run loss at Skegness.
Rob Simpson took 4-34 with the ball but saw the hosts score 208-6, with Tim Hughes (53) and Pete Houghton (44) scoring well.
Paul Edgeller (41 not out) was the only Sutton player to impress with the bat, though, as they were bowled out for 86 in reply.
In Division One, Moulton Harrox made it nine wins in a row and closed the gap on leaders Deeping 2nd to just ten points after an eight-wicket win over Spalding 2nd.
Louis Greetham was the star for Moulton with the new ball, taking 6-8 in his nine over spell after Spalding were asked to bat first at Broad Lane.
Nohman Jarral also bowled well with the new ball without taking a wicket, before Carl Lamming replaced him and helped Greetham mop up the tail, taking 4-24 with Spalding finishing 82 all out.
Moulton made light work in chasing down the total, finishing 83-2 in 22.5 overs, Chris Beale (22) and Lewis Martin (7) being the wickets to fall. Mike Kearns (27 not out) and Matt Barnett (18 not out) saw Moulton home.
In the same division, Pinchbeck suffered a ten-wicket humbling against Boston 3rd.
They were bowled out for just 23 in 14.3 overs, with Boston needing just four overs to ease home.
In Division Two, Ethan English made a fine 59 in Long Sutton 2nd’s 72-run win over Billingborough 2nd at Paradise Field.
English was the star turn of the Sutton innings, with Tom Shaw (17) and Craig Milnes (10) the only other players to make double figures.
Steve Milnes (6-22) and Emmy Gittins (3-10) then shone with the ball to dismiss Boro for 59.
