Lincolnshire Premier Cricket League round-up
A stunning spell of bowling from Nilantha Atapattu inspired Spalding to their first victory of the Lincolnshire Premier League season on Saturday.
Atapattu took four wickets for the loss of just four runs in his 10-over spell which featured six maidens as Spalding defeated neighbours Long Sutton by two wickets at Paradise Field.
Long Sutton had elected to bat first after winning the toss but soon found themselves in trouble after a 22-run opening partnership between Calvin Bird and Nathan Oliver.
Bird was caught by James Blake off the bowling of Atapattu for 12 which sparked a batting collapse from the home side.
They slumped to 42-7 as Atapattu took centre stage and was well supported by Barnaby Dring who took 3-18 from his 7.4 overs.
Uddyan Hansana and Josh Baker stemmed the loss of wickets with a 60-run stand for the eighth wicket.
However, Brandon Andrews returned to the Spalding attack to have Baker caught by Blake for 15.
Hansana then fell after being trapped leg before by Ollie Dring with the Sutton score on 119 after an excellent half-century which featured six fours and two sixes.
A late rally from Charlie Crisp and Jake Burton then took the Sutton score past the 150-run mark before the home captain was caught by Ollie Dring off the bowling of Barnaby Dring for 16 after a partnership of 33 for the final wicket.
The Dring boys then got the Spalding reply off to a solid start with a 46-run stand for the first wicket.
Burton made the vital breakthrough when he had Ollie Dring caught by Jacob Gray for 37 but Jamie Coles came to the crease and kept Spalding on track for victory.
Barnaby Dring and Coles added another 42 runs for the second wicket until the latter was caught by Crisp off the bowling of Burton for 19.
Spalding still remained in control of the contest as Keyan Gace and Barnaby Dring added another 34 runs in the next partnership which moved the visitors to within 30 runs of victory.
However, Gace was trapped leg before by Burton for 25 with the Sutton skipper then bowling Divyeash Vaseeharan for 13.
This prompted a flurry of wickets to fall as Spalding fell from 141-4 to 148-8 with Burton and Davico Kruger leading the home side's charge.
Burton took his maiden Premier League six-wicket haul, including having Barnaby Dring stumped by Bird for 44, to finish his 10 overs with 6-46.
Kruger claimed 2-19 from his 5.4 over stint but the experience of Chris Dring and Atapattu saw Spalding home after a tense finish.
The victory keeps Spalding above both Grimsby and Long Sutton in the league table while their defeated hosts are still seeking their maiden win of the season after their promotion.
An unbeaten century from George Woods failed to save Market Deeping from defeat in their home match with Sleaford on Saturday.
Woods hit 15 fours and two sixes in his 111 not out as Deeping racked up 278-7 from their 50 overs.
Matt Mills blasted six fours and two sixes in his half-century off just 40 balls while Saqlain Arshad added another 35 for the home side.
However, a strong response from Sleaford's top order saw them pass the home side's total after more than six overs to spare.
Daniel Smith led the Sleaford scoring with a quick-fire 78 after opener Aayush Patel had plundered 11 boundaries in his 65.
An unbeaten half-century from Thomas Shorthouse then saw Sleaford home despite Hayatullah Niazi picking up a couple of wickets for defeated Deeping.
More than 600 runs were scored in the clash at the Abbey Lawn where Bourne were beaten by four wickets against Grantham.
The home side had made 320-8 from their 50 overs after being put into bat with Jonny Cheer and Jordan Temple leading the scoring.
Cheer cracked 14 boundaries in his 97 while Temple made 65 with Dan Freeman and Jack Berry adding 30 and 38 respectively for Bourne.
Nauman Abid was the pick of the visiting attack with 3-52 for a Grantham side whose reply was led by Zahid Mansoor.
The Pakistani ace plundered an unbeaten 107 while Qundeel Haider hit 86 after opener Aqib Afzaal had made 54 as Grantham successfully chased down a tough target.
Atiq Bhatti also blasted 47 as the visitors passed Bourne's total with 15 balls left to stay in second spot behind league leaders Lindum who visit Long Sutton this coming weekend.
Bourne are now fifth, one spot above Sleaford who are the visitors to the Abbey Lawn on Saturday. Seventh-placed Deeping are at Scunthorpe Town while Spalding visit Woodhall Spa.