Grantham Cricket Club round-up
Grantham lost ground in the race for Lincolnshire Premier League honours after a topsy-turvy title race took another twist on Saturday.
Aqib Afzaal's side were beaten by 97 runs in a high-scoring contest at Sleaford which leaves Grantham behind both Lindum and Woodhall Spa in the league standings.
Their title rivals tied their meeting at Jubilee Park on Saturday which leaves Grantham in third spot, just a point clear of fourth-placed Scunthorpe whose game at home to Bourne was called off due to the wet weather.
Sleaford had racked up an imposing 345-6 from their 50 overs after being put into bat by Grantham on Saturday.
Faizan Minhas collected a couple of wickets for Grantham who were on the receiving end of an onslaught from Sleaford's Daniel Smith.
The South African smashed 30 fours and four sixes in his 187 not out off just 134 balls as Sleaford set their visitors a daunting run chase.
Ahmed Raza (63) and Afzaal (60) got Grantham's reply off to a good start with a 96-run opening stand.
Qundeel Haider hit a further 36 before Sleaford wrestled back control of the contest and dismissed their visitors for 248 with Minhas making 33.
It was a second defeat of the season for Grantham who host Scunthorpe at Gorse Lane on Saturday.
Grantham 2nds' match at home to Sleaford in the South Lincs and Border Championship was cut short by the wet weather on Saturday.
Affan Mustafa had top-scored with 48 as Grantham were bowled out for 167 with Oliver Sneath taking 7-33 for the visitors.
The visitors looked well on course for victory when rain stopped play with Sleaford on 155-3 after 30.3 overs.
Ancaster continue to set the pace in Division One after an eight-wicket win at Market Deeping 2nds.
Liam Probert took 6-26 while Daniel Parker picked up 3-30 as Deeping were dismissed for 93.
Opener Anthony Richardson made 31 in the Ancaster reply before Jake Ellis eased them home with an unbeaten 44.
Belton Park suffered a heavy defeat in Division Two after losing by eight wickets against Burghley Park 2nds.
They were dismissed for just 38 by their visitors before Burghley breezed to victory despite Richard Brewer collecting a couple of wickets.
Belvoir remain in pole position in Division A of the South Nottinghamshire League after a narrow win on Saturday.
They beat visiting Attenborough 2nds by two wickets at Knipton to maintain their 10-point advantage at the top of the table.
Attenborough had been restricted to 175-9 from their 50 overs after being put into bat with Alex McNulty taking 3-37 for the hosts.
Belvoir then lost their first two wickets within three balls of their reply starting before Lewis Dann led the fightback.
He top-scored with 48 while Olly Clayfield (23), Tom Neville (20) and James Clayfield (39) all make crucial contributions before Nikaash Dinesh (10no) guided Belvoir home with 13 balls to spare.
The second team were beaten by 104 runs in their Division G clash at Wymeswold who made 210 after being put into bat.
Siluna Mallawa Arachchige and Tom Morgan returned 4-39 and 4-29 respectively for Belvoir who were dismissed for 106 in reply.
They made a promising start through William Green (24), Ben Robinson (35) and Gus Hagger (29).
However, they slumped from 96-3 to 106 all out after losing seven wickets for just 10 runs to hit their hopes of a top two finish.
Barrowby Cricket Club are staging a special friendly match at their Low Road ground on Sunday.
They are hosting the Broken XI, a cricket club for those who are physically, mentally or emotionally broken and need the benefits of team sports.
The match gets underway at 12.30pm and will played over 35 overs.
