Liam adds a Sparke but the points are shared

Boston 1sts 199-7, Nettleham 15-0 - match abandoned.

It was a contest which offered plenty of promise, but in the end Mother Nature was the winner.

Saturday had all the ingredients for a very good game of cricket as it pitted two sides needing a victory agaionst one another, with Boston facing Nettleham, currently in the Lincs ECB Premier drop zone.

The coin came down in favour of Nettleham captain Jack Curtis, and he opted to bowl first on a pitch that certainly looked like it would benefit the seam bowlers early on.

“We would have bowled first, but it was by no means the end of the world,” Boston skipper Tom Baxter said.

“We just had to work hard with the bat and put a score on the board.”

Kieran Evans and Tom Poole set about building a steady start for Boston, but Evans was trapped leg before wicket with the score on 24 and Poole edged behind for 22 with Boston sat on 43-2.

A partnership between Liam Sparke and Jonny Cheer then began to re-build the innings for Boston before Cheer was dismissed with Boston on 83-3.

Ryan Croom fell soon afterwards and Boston were 90-4.

Saihan Azim came out and took the attack to the Nettleham bowlers, scoring 17 from 16 balls, an innings which included two huge sixes.

He was trapped LBW and Boston were 129-5 with 17 overs remaining.

“At that stage, we were still looking for maximum batting points and a total in excess of 225,” Baxter added.

“It was important that we got a score on the board.”

Sparke and Baxter found scoring more difficult and pushed the score along gradually.

A 40-run partnership was ended when Sparke was dismissed for 69 and Boston were still well short of the 225 target at 169-6.

Baxter and Peter Mitchell tried to accelerate the run rate but both found it difficult as the Nettleham bowlers ended the innings well.

Mitchell (11) was run-out in the final over and Baxter (20 not out) and Riley Orr (four not out) managed to get Boston to 199-7 from their 50 overs.

“It was a score that would have given us a chance in the game,” the captain continued.

“They bowled well at the end and I couldn’t find the boundary to accelerate the scoring.”

Boston’s 199-7 gave both sides three bonus points from the first innings.

It wasn’t known at tea, but that was to be the end of the bonus points as Boston only managed one over with the ball before the lightning struck and the heavens opened.

“It was one of those days and we were never going to beat the weather today,” Baxter added. “It was frustrating because I think we could have made 199 a very competitive total on that pitch.

“However, they would have fancied their chances of chasing it down, so it could have been a very interesting second innings.”

With both sides picking up eight points, the game ended and Boston’s man of the match was Liam Sparke for his crucial 69 that set the innings up very well.