The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
An incredible unbeaten stand of 194 from Matthew Barnett and Chris Beale guided Moulton Harrox to a massive ten-wicket win over Boston in the South Lincs and Border League Premier Division on Saturday.
Having won the toss at Broad Lane, Moulton bowled first and dismissed their visitors for 192 in 44.2 overs as Matt Rose took 4-49.
That target proved to be no sweat for Harrox, with skipper Beale making an incredible unbeaten 102 from 100 balls and Barnett blasting 72 not out from 82 deliveries.
The 20-point haul helps Moulton move out of the bottom two and into tenth position after ten matches.
Harrox made a strong start with the ball as Henry Lavery (2-22) struck early to bowl Boston skipper Rowan Evans (2) to make it 3-1.
Luke Gilding (18) also fell to Lavery soon after, but Matt Hood (59) and Ben Troops (17) provided some calm and took the visitors past 50.
Travis Harrison (2-45) broke that partnership, though, as he trapped Troops LBW.
Not done there, Harrison got rid of ex-Spalding man Dan Milgate (4) to leave Boston struggling on 61-4.
Hood and Martin Hodgson (12) attempted to rebuild, but the latter was soon bowled by Jack Barnett (2-28).
Azeem Qadir (2) was also out to Jack Barnett – but that only served to bring Scott Elleray (56 from 36 balls) to the crease.
He and Hood piled on the runs in a rapid 82-run stand for the seventh wicket before Rose claimed the wicket of Elleray.
With the tail now exposed, Harrox cleaned it up nicely as Boston slumped from 178-6 to 192 all out, with Rose getting the wickets of Hood, Chris Hall (0) and Andrew Hewitt (0).
A target of 193 would have looked tricky on paper, but Harrox absolutely blew Boston away in a sensational display of batting.
The opening duo needed just 30.3 overs to reach their goal, with Beale the aggressor.
He managed 19 fours and a six in his unbeaten century, while opening partner Matt Barnett crashed 11 fours and cracked a six of his own to help seal a dominant victory for the hosts.
Next up for Moulton is a home game against bottom-of-the-table Billingborough on Saturday (1pm).
