Two players hit half-centuries on Saturday as Spalding Town picked up a dominant 91-run victory at Freiston to stay top of the South Lincs and Border League Premier Division.
Opener Jon Manton (53) and number three Josh Newton (78) starred with the bat as Town posted 197-5 from their 45 overs after opting to make first use of the surface.
The bowlers then defended the total superbly with Julian Wilson (4-10 from seven overs) and skipper Jonathan Miles (3-34 from 12) starring to skittle the hosts out for 106.
Spalding’s 19-point haul from the match wasn’t enough to extend their lead at the top, as second-placed Bourne 2nd grabbed all 20 to cut the deficit between the pair to just two points.
On what was the hottest day of the year, Spalding made hay in the middle with Manton and Joseph Broomfield (36) putting on 72 for the first wicket.
Broomfield looked to be in fine nick – cracking three fours and a six – before being trapped LBW by Freiston’s star bowler Abdul Moeed (4-29).
Manton and Newton then shared a 74 partnership for the second wicket as Town looked to make 200. Manton, who only scored four of his runs via the boundary, was eventually the next man out for a battling 53 – stumped by Zeeshan Saeed off the bowling of Moeed.
That was the trigger for Newton to motor, as he cracked a six and made eight fours to up the run rate.
Miles (10) was the next man out after sharing a stand of 35 with Newton as Zeeshan Hassan (1-47) castled his stumps.
Newton was eventually out at the death as Moeed got rid of both him and Rob Ambrose (3) in quick succession, but 197-5 looked a solid score.
Freiston started their reply solidly and made it to 28 before Will Naylor (1-18) dismissed Sunil Panjwani (10).
Captain Richard Paul (18) was then clean bowled by Jon Garner (1-5), before Waseem Ilyas (12) was bowled by Miles to leave the hosts in trouble at 54-3.
Things got worse for them when Miles took two more quick wickets to send Saeed (4) and Usman Ahmed (5) back to the dressing room and move the score onto 68-5.
Wilson then got in on the act by clean bowling Moeed (14) and dismissing Charles Lenton (18).
Broomfield (1-2) soon had Umar Dar (4) caught on bowled, leaving Wilson to mop up the tail with two stump-shattering deliveries that bamboozled Bonakeli Njovana (2) and Zeeshan Hassan (0).
That allowed Town, who bowled their hosts out in just 38 overs, to collect all five bowling points on offer.
The table-toppers are back at home this Saturday when they welcome Billingborough to Spalding Grammar School (1pm).
The fixture should be a fiery affair given the rivalry the two sides have generated over the past few seasons.
