The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Spalding Town emphatically bounced back from their first South Lincs and Border League Premier Division loss of the season by battering Skegness by nine wickets on Saturday.
Captain Jonathan Miles impressed with the ball as his figures of 4-30 restricted hosts Skegness to just 175-9 from their 45 overs.
That total never looked like being enough to deny Town, however, as they made hay in the sun with an imperious reply of 177-1.
Openers Jon Manton (77 not out) and Warren Nel (65) got the lion’s share of the runs, with number three Josh Newton adding an unbeaten 24 to help steer his side home in 34.2 overs.
Home skipper Reece Brant won the toss and opted to have a bat first – only to lose opener Yasir Shahzad for a duck early on as William Naylor (1-16) struck LBW.
Jon Garner (2-51) then bowled Brant for 19 as Town’s impressive start with the ball continued, before Sam Harris (31) and Pete Houghton (18) attempted to stabalise the innings.
Miles soon got rid of both, while also blowing away Tim Hughes (4) and Mark Chamberlain (6) in an excellent spell.
Norman Brackley restored a bit of stability with a timely 33, while the lower order all did their best to ensure the hosts saw their overs out.
Brett Thomas (12) was caught and bowled by Garner after offering some resistance, while Brandon Andrews (2-37) stepped up to remove Luke Turner (2) and eventually Brackley.
However, Town couldn’t get rid of Andrew Sylvester (8 not out) and Matt O’Dare (9 not out) and that denied them maximum bowling points.
Spalding knew that they had the fire-power to reach their target, but the way they eased to victory was impressive nonetheless.
Manton stepped up with his best performance of the season so far, top scoring with a dominant performance.
Nel also passed 50, but was ultimately bowled by O’Dare (1-49).
That at least allowed Newton to play himself into some form with a handy unbeaten 24 as Spalding collected 19 match points.
The win leaves Town three points clear at the top.
