Six on the bounce for Moulton

Moulton moved up to second place in South Lincs and Border League Division One after Matt Barnett blew away Stamford Town on Saturday at Broad Lane.

With Simon Juckes away, stand in skipper Chris Beale won the toss and had no hesitation in asking visitors Stamford to bat first in what appeared bowler friendly conditions, but certainly nobody expected the ensuing performance from the Moulton bowling attack.

Alex Baker continues to impress with the new ball, and his knack for removing key batsmen struck again as he made an early breakthrough, bowling dangerman Chris Bore for 10.

Nohman Jarral then marked his return to the side by removing opposition captain Liam Dave LBW for a duck, before bowling with immaculate line and length and not quite enough luck, picking up another scalp and finishing with figures of 12-4-12-2.

The game was finely poised at 25-2 after 12 overs when Matt Barnett was brought into the attack for his first spell of the season, with Beale opting to continue with seam rather than turning to his spinners Jack Barnett and Ansar Hussain.

Moulton were immediately rewarded as Matt struck twice in his first over, removing Mark Andrew and Tommy Sayer, before blowing away the remainder of the Stamford batting line-up, finishing with figures of 7-2-17-6.

Hussain then picked up the final wicket of Mo Choudry, caught superbly one-handed by Lewis Martin at long on, to end the Stamford innings at 55 all out.

In reply, Moulton lost Hussain (5) early on, but were never really in any danger despite some tight bowling from Stamford. Beale (11), Jack Barnett (9) and Lance Bettinson (7) chipped away steadily at the total before Lewis Martin (16 not out) and Alin Carter (4 not out) saw Moulton home to win by 6 wickets.

This was Moulton’s sixth successive victory, their best winning run since 2011.

They visit Baston next Saturday, looking to chase down league leaders Market Deeping and win their first league title since 2008.