Amazing figures of 5-25 from 15-year-old Amelia Gardner couldn’t stop Spalding Town 3rd suffering a bruisng defeat against Claypole at the Memorial Field on Saturday.
Playing only her second senior game for Spalding, Gardner’s figures were the only real positive for Town in the South Lincs and Border League Division Two clash as Claypole smashed 321 batting first before being knocked over for 97.
The home side lost the toss and fielded first, but made a good start as the in-form Ashley Bright (4-79) dismissed both openers to leave Claypole on 12-2.
However, what followed was a brutal 210-run partnership between Andrew Attewell (64) and Ben Wadd (137). They smashed six bowlers out of the attack, prompting skipper Richard Gilbert to throw the ball to teenager Gardner.
It proved a master-stroke as she dismissed both batsmen – and then proceeded to snaffle three more in her six-over spell as Claypole lost seven wickets for 34.
A frustrating last wicket partnership of 64 did take Claypole past 300, though, leaving Town chasing a whopping 322 for victory.
Spalding’s reply began disastrously, with Carl Andrews out LBW for a duck.
There was a brief period of calm then things fell apart for the home side, as they collapsed from 17-1 to 54-9 with five batsmen recording ducks. A last wicket partnership of 43 gave some respectability to the score, with Steve Norris last out for a belligerent 48.
All out for 97, Spalding also fell short of a batting bonus point.
