Long Sutton are still searching for their first South Lincs and Border League Premier Division win of the campaign after another agonising defeat on Saturday.
With hosts Sleaford 2nd posting 206-9 batting first, Sutton closed on 187-8 after their 45 overs – just 20 runs shy of success.
Having won the toss and elected to bat on what looked like a pitch full of runs, Sleaford were quickly on the back foot when Barry Stanway (1-57) sent Simon Godby’s (10) stumps flying.
But it was Jimmy Wright (4-35) who did the bulk of the damage with a mixture of line and length and vicious short balls.
And when spin wizard Rob Simpson (2-36) removed Kurt Colyn for five, Sleaford were in all sorts of trouble at 83-6.
However, the Sleaford tail wagged and Sutton’s bowlers were unable to make regular breakthroughs as the lower order butchered their way to 206-9 from the 45 overs.
Sutton lost Chris Booth (2) early on in their reply, but captain Phil Barnes and vice skipper Wright were soon into the swing of things and scoring freely.
They produced a splendid 100 partnership, but when Barnes fell to a somewhat dubious LBW decision for a very well-made 59, the Sutton collapse began.
Wright soon followed after making a classy 63 – and with Steve Skoulding (10no) and Dan Oldfield (11) the only other batsmen to make double figures, Sutton fell just 20 runs short.
Wright said: “Once again we’ve pushed the opposition very close and we know we’re not far away from getting our first victory of the season.”
- Long Sutton 2nd were soundly beaten by early SLBL Division One pace-setters Market Deeping 2nd on Saturday.
Batting first at Paradise Field, hosts Sutton managed 157-9 from their 45 overs with Andrew Wright (38), Luke Lovegrove (21), Ian Morriss (21) and Jimmy Harrison (19) top scoring.
Deeping’s reply was anchored by an unbeaten 54 from opener Ryan Bainborough.
Fellow opener John McDougall also made a fine 60, while Richard Witt’s 17 also helped the visitors make 160-3 in just 20 overs.
