Spalding Town (229-3) beat Louth (228-9) by 7 wickets
Brilliant batting from Warren Nel and Josh Newton steered Spalding to a dramatic Lincs ECB Premier League win over hosts Louth on Saturday.
John Medler (55) and Amila Wettasinghe (53) both passed 50 as hosts Louth racked up 228-9 batting first, leaving Town with a sizeable run chase on their hands at London Road.
It went right to the penultimate ball, but a dazzling 99 from Warren Nel and an unbeaten 85 from Josh Newton steered the visitors to a winning tally of 229-3.
Spalding skipper Rob Ambrose, who hadn’t seen his side win since April 26, admitted that the 19-point haul was a sweet one for his side.
He said: “It was an important win for us, that’s for sure.
“At one stage it looked a bit iffy and we were needing around eight runs an over.
“It wasn’t easy, Louth are a good side and nice bunch of lads too. But getting the win in the last over left the lads buzzing and I think it could give our season a new lease of life.
“Warren Nel kept his cool and batted superbly, but I know he was gutted not to get a century – I think they got under his skin a bit.
“It was great to see Josh Newton play that kind of innings too. He was absolutely brilliant – it reminded me of the knock he made against Billingborough a couple of years ago.
“We’ve got a lot of talented overseas players, but it’s always great to see a local lad delivering at this level.”
Charlie Kearns (3-71) and Nuwan Jayasena (3-69) did most of the damage with the ball for Spalding, with Ambrose electing to bowl first after winning the toss.
There were also wickets for Tom Dale (1-33) and Thivanka Rajaratne (1-37), but Town couldn’t quite bowl their opponents out to secure maximum points.
In reply, Sri Lanka star Rajaratne set off at a typically blistering pace, smashing 29 – including five fours and a six – before succumbing to Wettasinghe. That only served in bringing Nel and Newton to the crease together, as the pair put on 168 for the second wicket.
Although Nel fell one shy of his century and Nuwan Jayasena was run out for a duck, Ben Smith (5) joined Newton at the crease – and it was he who clipped a four down the leg side to complete the win.
