A solid bowling display and Chris Beale’s unbeaten 52 steered Moulton Harrox to a derby victory over Boston 3rd on Saturday.
Moulton limited Boston 3rd to 119-8 batting first in the South Lincs and Border League Division One clash at The Mayflower, before easing to 121-5 in reply to clinch 19 points.
Having won the toss and opted to field, Harrox did an impressive job of stifling the Boston run rate.
Louis Greetham (3-18), Jack Barnett (3-25) and Carl Lamming (2-24) got amongst the wickets, while Simon Juckes (0-36) also bowled with great control without any luck.
Rowan Evans (26), Eli Coonan (22) and Cameron McCullum (15) all got starts at the top of the order for the hosts.
But Harrox refused to let them settle and took wickets at pretty regular intervals.
And, but for a cameo down the innings from Ian Morris (19) ensured that Boston at least made triple figures.
Moulton lost Alin Carter (7) and Karl Hibbert (2) – both caught and bowled by Morris – early on in their reply.
But Beale and Jack Barnett (28) ensured that the bulk of the runs were knocked off in good time.
Although Michael Troops (3-5) got Barnett and two more scalps in an impressive display, Beale held things together at his end and helped Harrox reach 121-5 in the 33rd over.
Meanwhile, Pinchbeck enjoyed a six-wicket success over Claypole in a low-scoring SLBL Division One contest at Spalding Grammar School.
Fielding first, Pinchbeck had three bowlers in fine form to knock their visitors over for just 88 in 26.4 overs.
Mike Knight led the way with 5-29, while Lee Eyett (3-21) and Stephen Coles (2-37) also impressed.
Alexander Ireland (30), John North (13) and Dan Parker (12 not out) were Claypole’s best performers with the ball, but Pinchbeck were happy at the half-way point.
Harry Wilkinson-Roberts (9) was first out for Pinchbeck in their reply after an opening stand of 26 with Mark Ramsden (14), who went soon after.
However, Eyett (44) smacked seven boundaries in his 37-ball knock to put Pinchbeck in command, before Jamie Frost (10 not out) guided the hosts to 89-4 in 16 overs to seal the win.
Staying in Division One, Spalding Town 2nd enjoyed a victory over Welby Cavaliers to move up to second in the table.
Town cracked 177-9 in their 40 overs, with Will Moxon (37), Paul Foreman (32), Jack Sawyer (30), Jay White (20) and Jamie Juckes (16) all scoring well.
As for Welby, they could only muster 58-9 in 24.4 overs. Neo Timothy (3-2), Tim Bosco (2-10), Foreman (2-14) and Juckes (2-25) did the damage with the ball, with Mark Dale (17) and David Kennedy (11) the only home players to pass ten.
- Long Sutton suffered a heavy nine-wicket defeat at Boston 2nd in the South Lincs and Border League Premier Division on Saturday.
Figures of 6-59 from Dan Fox saw Sutton bowled out for 105 in just 22.3 overs at the Mayflower, before Boston replied with 107-1 to clinch a sizeable success.
Having been put into bat, Sutton found themselves toiling at 49-6 after losing Luke Barnes (1), Phil Barnes (6), Dan Olfield (7), Beau Newman (4), James Baker (4) and Barry Stanway (8) for single figure scores.
Matt Bull (26) and Angus Bell (11) did fare a little better down the order to take their side into three figures, but 105 always looked a low target.
And so it proved, with openers Ben Troops (51 not out) and Tim Norris (50) taking the hosts to 105-0 before Bell (1-15) finally got the latter.
The damage was already done, though, with Sutton suffering their fifth loss of the season.
Down in Division Two, Long Sutton 2nd also suffered a hefty loss.
Visitors Grantham 3rd racked up 271-8 batting first, before Sutton were bowled out for 134 in 34.4 overs in reply.
