A stunning 162 not out from Josh Newton propelled Moulton Harrox to a comprehensive 82-run win at Freiston.
Moulton are hot on the heels of Long Sutton in the South Lincs and Border League sitting in second.
And Newton continued his fine form as Moulton posted 256 for 4 from their 45 overs after electing to bat first.
Australian Jamie Kitchen’s brutal bullying of Sunday Division Four meant he was promoted to open alongside Jamie Juckes.
Moulton started aggressively with Juckes taking advantage of some inaccurate bowling, carving a couple of boundaries early on.
Kitchen edged a four through second slip but that’s where his luck ran out and he was bowled by Taimur Mian.
Juckes was caught on the boundary pulling a short ball for a well hacked 19 with Ruarri Drumm joining Newton at 39 for 2.
Drumm played a pivotal role in stabilizing the innings, scoring 13 in a 83 run partnership.
Newton went past his 50 backed by Chris Beale (26) who stuck around for a while, rotating the strike intermittently and reluctantly hitting two boundaries.
Junaid Alam came into play, started batting right handed, changed to left after ten balls and then back to right.
Newton continued to churn out the runs, hitting 25 fours and three sixes in his 162 not out
Moulton closed on 256 for 4.
They failed to get the early wicket they desired until Richard Paul (2) was trapped in front by Harry Lovell.
Sunil Panjaweja and Connor Goodfellow began rebuilding the innings but a rocket arm from Kitchen ran the latter out for 20.
Panjaweja passed his 50 but Junaid trapped him in front of the stumps.
Abdul Moeed suffered the same fate for 21 as Alam took 5 for 42 from seven overs.
Ultimately this did heavily impact the Frieston innings and with wickets from Kitchen (1 for 23), Travis Harrison (1 for 46) and Lovell (2 for 40) seeing Freiston 82 runs short.
Skipper Chris Beale said: “It is shaping up like a hell of a season.
“I really feel like this is our chance to win the league. “
- Breaking News
