Bourne 2nd (194-6) lost to Moulton Harrox (198-3) by 7 wickets
Moulton’s excellent run of form continued on Saturday with an extremely convincing South Lincs and Border League Premier Division win over rivals Bourne.
Tom Bentley made a stunning unbeaten century as Bourne’s second string posted 194-6 batting first at Harrox Field, but Moulton easily knocked that off thanks to Jack Barnett’s classy 80 not out.
Harrox captain Chris Beale won the toss and elected to bowl first on an extremely good wicket, believing that his side could keep Bourne to a low score.
The hosts started brightly, with Henry Lavery bowling superbly – which lead to a pressure built run out by Jake Morton.
Lavery (2-58) then had Jon Howard (4) caught behind in the slips with an excellent one handed catch by Barnett, but Archie Stroud and Bentley began to rebuild the innings.
Stroud (18) was trapped LBW by spinner Maxwell Cusack (1-49), while Barnett (1-30) trapped Jordan Temple (7) in front. However, Bentley’s explosive ton left Harrox chasing a low-looking 194.
In reply, Matthew Barnett (47) and Joe Broomfield (26) steered Moulton on 61-0 off the first 10 overs, with the former playing extremely aggressively.
Matthew Barnett was eventually bowled by Bentley for 47 off just 30 balls, but he’d set the groundwork for cousin Jack Barnett to fire Moulton forward.
He immediately amassed large amounts of boundaries and put Harrox in an excellent position to win the game.
Stubborn Broomfield was eventually dislodged for a battling 26.
That prompted captain Beale to promote himself up the order and hit a quick-fire 15, which allowed the ever-impressive Barnett to lead Harrox to victory in the 31st over.
Moulton, now fifth, will host second-placed Boston this Saturday (1.30pm) as they bid to keep their red-hot form going.
