Spalding’s hopes of avoiding relegation from the Premier Division of the Lincs Premier League suffered a blow on Saturday.
The bottom two teams, Spalding and Grantham, took on the two teams immediately above the drop zone but both lost, to open a 17-point gap between second and third-bottom places.
Spalding were at Lindum and lost the toss. They were asked to bat and were soon in trouble at 39/3.
Opener Jon Manton stood firm to hit six 4s in a patient 82-ball 42 before being run out, having moved the score into three figures in partnership with Nilantha Atapattu (34).
The lower order kept the scoreboard ticking over with Josh Lawrence (26) and Walter Kinlock (21) pushing it to 209/8 by the end of their 50 overs.
Lindum made a strong start to their reply, with captain William Wright the first man out after hitting a run-a-ball 30.
However, from 43/0, the hosts slumped to 72/4 as the Spalding bowlers started to gain the upper hand. Atapattu bowled both openers, with Kinlock claiming two more on his way to figures of 3-26.
The match then swung decisively in favour of Lindum, with Max Cartledge (46) and Carl Stubbs (57) adding 98 for the fifth wicket. The remaining runs were knocked off for the loss of just one more wicket with just under three overs in hand.
Moulton Harrox lost their way in their Championship South clash at home to leaders Newborough.
They had done well to reach 151/3 thanks to decent knocks from openers Charlie Pulter (34) and Nathan Oliver (20), with Josh Newton striking 11 4s in his 73 at no.4.
However, when he went at 174, Moulton could only just scrape past the 200 mark from their 50 overs, posting 201/8
Opener Jack Stokes earned victory for the visitors virtually single-handed. He hit 18 4s in a 111-ball unbeaten 120, sharing a 48-run opening stand, adding 70 for the second wicket and then enjoying an unbroken 85-run partnership to ease his team to a winning 203/2 in the 35th over.
Travis Harrison and Sonal Martin were the only home bowlers to take a wicket.
