Khoza moves Bracebridge closer

Messingham’s pitch dried out enough for the game against Bracebridge Heath to be completed which allowed the leaders of the Readers Lincolnshire Premier League the chance to increase their stranglehold over the competition.

Having been invited to bat, Bracebridge, champions for the past five years, lost their first wicket in only the second over of the match, Irfan Ahmed having Stuart Airey caught by Adam Cook.

But by the time the second wicket fell to Shaun Dalton in the 16th over – Brett Houston caught and bowled for 30 - the visitors had 80 on the board.

Dalton dismissed Peter Morgan for 52 with only seven runs added and the next three batsmen went for single figures, leaving Bracebridge on 137 for six.

Paul Cook and Steve Warman put together a stand of 49 before Cook fell to Ahmed for 61 but Warman went on to make an unbeaten 36 and with the help of the tail enders take the total to 236 for eight at the close, Dalton and Ahmed each taking three wickets.

Messingham suffered an early blow when Jason Scheepers was bowled by Aaron Onyon in the fifth over but Chris Barnett and Dave Dawson made steady progress and after 15 overs, the home side were 63 for one.

Onyon bowled Dawson for 27 and a run out made it 85 for three.

When Barnett was caught off Tom Khoza, Messingham were 121 for five but from here, the remaining batsmen found the joint attack of Onyon and Khoza difficult to handle and the final wicket fell on 132, Onyon with four for 26 off 10 and Khoza with five for 27 off 15.

Harry Dunn took four catches at Lindum in the local derby against Nettleham which saw the home side continue their progress up the table.

But it was opener Pierce Morley-Barnes who was the architect of Lindum’s success after his side had been invited to bat on a damp but drying pitch.

After Karanjit Bansal had fallen to a catch by Will Carter off David Hutchinson, Morley-Barnes joined forces with Alex Hornsby in a partnership of 78.

And when Hornsby was stumped off Matt Smith for 24, the opener and Richard Cross added a further 61.

Cross was also stumped for 24, this time off Paul Cook, but Dale Christie came out to see the innings out in a stand of 47 with Morley-Barnes to take Lindum to 201 for three, the opener celebrating his maiden Premier League century for Lindum as he finished 108 not out.

Nettleham had 32 on the board when Oliver Guilliatt trapped Rob Cook lbw and from here Nettleham were unable to build any sizeable stands until, on 97 for seven, Tom Dalton and James Stevens halted the slide with a partnership of 46.

But this wasn’t enough to save the game and after Bansal had Dalton caught by Dunn for 46, the bowler took the final two wickets to finish with six for 59 off 16 and help bowl Nettleham out for 151.

Sleaford moved up to ninth and further from relegation danger at home to Market Deeping.

Batting first, Sleaford made a slow start but the run rate speeded up when Dammika Gunawardena and Oliver Burford got together, Burford hitting 35 before falling to Mike Kearns and the Sri Lankan eventually being run out for 83.

Lower down the order, Stephen Bradford with 28 and Nick Goacher with 17 helped the home side to 217 for nine at the close, Kearns taking three for 37 off 14 overs.

Jamie Morgan and Jonathan Wright gave Deeping a solid start but when Wright was bowled by Sam Gascoyne, the Deeping batting collapsed and despite Morgan’s efforts, which saw him hit 65, the final wicket fell on 137, no other batsman making double figures and Paul Roberts returning figures off three wickets for four runs off three overs.

In the highest scoring game of the day, at Bourne, the home side celebrated an early wicket as Charlie Hopkins had Warren Nell caught for just two.

Conrad Louth followed, again caught off Hopkins, with the score on 36 but Andrew Crook and Ricky Lovelace set Woodhall on the road to the highest total of the weekend with a stand of 88.

Lovelace was caught off Ben Stroud for 27, Crook and Jack Luffman (35) added 50 and by the time Crook was out for 127, Woodhall were 250 for six.

The innings closed on 284 for seven, Ben Percival unbeaten on 35 and Hopkins with three wickets.

Crook then opened the bowling and took Bourne’s first wicket with 15 on the board, bringing Stroud out to join Craig Williams.

This partnership pushed the total up to 51 but it was skipper Will Clough and Tom Lindley who made the most significant contribution, taking Bourne from 80 for three to 175 for four.

Clough was out for 60 but Lindley went on to make 57 and an unbeaten 27 from Hopkins saw Bourne to 228 for five and a share of the points.