A super knock of 77 from Warren Nel couldn’t stop Spalding Town losing the penultimate game of their Lincs ECB Premier League season by five wickets at Boston.
Already-relegated Town posted a very respectable 184-8 batting first at the Mayflower, having been put into bat by their hosts.
However, despite Brandon Andrews taking 3-46 to reduce Boston to 24-3 in reply, a 116-run stand from Fayadh Haffejee (86) and skipper Tom Baxter (51 not out) ensured that the hosts reached 186-5 in the 40th over.
Town started pretty well in one of only two games in the division to reach a conclusion, with Nel and Faisal Javed (7) putting on 32 for the first wicket before Haffejee (3-46) got rid of the latter.
The same player accounted for Josh Newton (10) to leave Town 46-2, before Nel and Andrews (26) put on 53 for the third wicket.
That took the visitors to 99 before Paul Deans (3-51) trapped Andrews LBW.
Shoib Chaudhry (8) kept Nel company in a 22-run partnership to take Spalding to 121 before Deans got him and then Josh Lawrence (1).
Nel, who lasted 124 balls and hit eight fours, was finally out with the score on 146 after being stumped off the bowling of Baxter (2-47).
Town also lost Matt Gill (7), but Rob Ambrose (14 not out) and Simon Juckes (15) put on 30 at the death to ensure Spalding batted out their overs and reached 184-8.
A rare Town win looked on the cards early on in Boston’s reply when Andrews removed Kieran Evans (14), Tom Poole (6) and Jon Cheer (0). Lawrence (1-28) also got the wicket of Michael Musson (10) to leave Boston on 58-4, before Haffejee and Baxter came together.
Haffejee’s 86 came from just 95 balls and included 14 fours and a six before Chaudhry (1-50) eventually had him caught behind.
But Baxter, who hit seven fours in his unbeaten 91-ball half-century, and Peter Mitchell (6 not out) eased the hosts home with ten overs to spare.
Town, who collected five match points, host Market Deeping at Spalding Grammar School in their final game of the season on Saturday (noon).
- No games involving South Holland sides were completed in the South Lincs and Border League on Saturday due to heavy rain across the county.
Spalding 2nd did have Billingborough 2nd struggling on 82-8 in their Premier Division game before the bad weather came, with Julian Wilson (4-17) and Matt Sharpe (3-39) both on-song.
Rock-bottom Town had to settle for 12 points and visit Bourne 2nd this Saturday (1pm).
In Division One, Moulton Harrox were on 152-9 in their game with Boston 3rd before the downpour halted proceedings indefinitely.
They did enough to earn 11 points from the abandoned fixture.
Champions Long Sutton saw their game against Belton Park rained off early on, with the visitors on 62-1 at Paradise Field. Both sides claimed eight points.
Down in Division Two, the derby between Long Sutton 2nd (eight points) and Pinchbeck (ten) was rained off with Sutton on 73-4.
