Grimsby pulled off the surprise result of the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League weekend when they beat reigning league champions Bourne by 26 runs.
Faced with what would normally be an easy target after bowling Grimsby out for 179 - of which Brendan Volley made 56 - Bourne found themselves six wickets down and less than 100 runs on the board.
Skipper Lee Charlton was the architect of Grimsby’s success with a six wicket haul as, despite Tom Bentley’s 52. Bourne were all out for 152.
This win moved the home side up to ninth in the table while at the top, Bracebridge Heath marched on, opening up a 13 point gap after decimating the Sleaford batting line-up and going on to win by nine wickets.
Having won the toss and electing to bat, Sleaford lost Tim McIntosh first ball, trapped lbw by Brett Houston. Houston took the second and Himesh Silva – who likes to be known as Bertie – took two more to make it 22 for four.
From here, only Oliver Burford with 42 could hold things together, Houston finishing with four wickets and Silva with 5-62 as Sleaford were all out for 89 in 28 overs.
Paul Cook and Nick John opened for the home side and by the time Cook was out for 45, which he hit off 37 balls, Bracebridge needed just 11 to win and John and Houston took their side to victory in less than 15 overs.
At Jubilee Park, Woodhall Spa also scored a comprehensive victory over Market Deeping to go second in the table. Malinga Bandara’s 85 helped Woodhall to 230 for nine and Etienne Botha then took 5-16 as Deeping were all out for 98.
Market Rasen proved their early success was no flash in the pan as their third win of the season took them to third in the table.
Grantham were the visitors to Rase Park and got their innings off to a good start, reaching 55 for one before James Fussey tempted Karanjit Bansal into a caught behind for 36. With the total on 82 for three, Matt Rutherford had Rohan Nurse caught by Ian Williams – one of five catches Williams held in the match – and from here wickets fell steadily, the final batsman departing in the 40th over with the score on 133.
In reply, Rasen got off to a disastrous start, losing two wickets to Joe Peck for just two runs. Peck took the third on 19 but Liam Scales(38) and Rutherford pulled things round with a 70 partnership and the Rasen skipper was unbeaten on 41 as he and Williams saw their side to a five wicket win.
Lindum finally got a victory under their belt after bowling Spalding out for 121, Joe Peatman taking three wickets including that of Warren Nel for 28. This made the score 55 for five and despite Dan Milgate and Nuwan Jayasena steadying the ship with a stand of 49, the bowlers always had the upper hand.
Will Wright and Will Taylor opened for Lindum and by the time Wright was out for 58, Lindum were 105 for three and it was left to Luke Robinson with an unbeaten 37 to see his side home.
The tightest game of the day was at Skegness where steady batting down the Louth order saw the visitors to 191 for nine, Amila Wettasinghe top scoring with 33 and Umar Farooq taking three wickets.
Skegness lost a wicket on 14 but from 56 for three, Chris Graser (41) and Jamie Epton added 43 and Brendan Young chipped in with 38. At 174 for six, the seasiders looked set for victory but three wickets then fell for just seven runs – all to Andy Carrington who finished with 5-47 – setting up a nailbiting finish.
Tom Cuthbert and Zee Baxh were the final pair and these two inched the total upwards, the winning run coming off the first ball of the 50th over to secure a victory that pushed Skegness up to sixth place in the table.