Super Spalding Town 2nd blew Woodlands away on Saturday to keep their South Lincs and Border Cricket League Division One title dream alive.
Jamie Juckes was the catalyst for the 176-run triumph, smashing 50 down the order in Town’s 237 before taking 3-12 to help skittle out Woodlands for 61 at the Memorial Field.
After last week’s shock loss at Baston, victory was vital if Town were to stay on top of the table.
Town skipper Steve Norris lost the toss and saw his side put into bat on a pitch that offered a little to both the batsman and bowlers.
Opening the batting, Mike Kearns (28) and Chris Klompas (30) got Spalding off to a fine start before the former was caught by a fine catch by Aazeer with the score on 53.
Klompas then went plum LBW, but Simon Juckes (17) and Ansar Hussain (21) soon imposed themselves. Juckes smashed two huge blows before being bowled – and Hussain then chopped on to follow him back to the hutch.
With Town on 122 after 25 overs a big score seemed probable. Chris Dring (17) played some good shots before being caught, while Mike Kearns Jnr was trapped in front after an aggressive 28.
Jimmy Clarke then fell without troubling the scorers, before torrential downpour with the score on 168 ensure a rain break.
The delay came at a good time for Spalding, with Jamie Juckes coming in and smashing 50 from 29 balls before being run out to set Woodlands a target of 238 for victory.
Clearly pumped up from his cracking knock, Jamie Juckes set about knocking over the Woodlands batting order in their reply.
He bowled Mohammed Munshif for a duck and got rid of Jazly Fareed (2) LBW to leave them 2-2.
It got worse for the away side, who were soon toiling at 17-5.
Matt Sharpe ran out skipper Darren Sweary (0), while Nohman Ahmad cleaned up Fazal Ahmed for a duck and Juckes returned to bowl Rachit Vakharia for just two.
There was some defiance from Aazeer (20), who was the only batsman to reach double figures before Woodlands were finally dismissed for 61 in the 24th over with an impressive stumping from Kearns Snr off the bowling of Sharpe wrapping up the innings.
Skipper Norris said: “It was a magnificent display.
“It’s always difficult to play against nine men but we played good hard cricket from the start and needed to recover from the defeat against Baston last week.
“Jamie was outstanding throughout the match and the catch by Ahmed is one of the best you will ever see. We now have a week off to recharge our batteries before the final three games of the season.”
Having played a game more than title rivals Grantham 2nd, Town are eight points ahead at the top.
