Lincs County League: Market Rasen Seconds skittle Nettleham to go top

The home side won the toss and sent Market Rasen in to bat first on a blustery Saturday afternoon.

Despite losing a wicket in the second over of the match, Rasen got off to a good start as Neil Davies and Dan Quinlan shared a stand of 46 for the second wicket.

When Quinlan was dismissed with the score on 50-2 after only 11 overs, Rasen were in a good position.

Neil Davies continued to play freely as he brought up his half-century just before the halfway stage.

After the drinks break, Davies finally departed for 54 with the score on 87-3. Darren Salmon (29) and Tom Bradford (19) pushed the run rate along for Rasen, leaving them on 131-5 with 10 overs to go.

However, towards the end of the innings, Nettleham recovered well to take the final five wickets for 28 runs as Rasen were bowled out for 159 with five balls to spare.

The pick of the bowlers for the home side was Phil White who finished with figures of 5 for 33 off 11 overs.

Nettleham’s innings got off to a great start as they raced to 35 off the first 10 overs.

But when the spin of Gary Bierlein was introduced into the attack, the wickets began to fall as he removed the dangerous Simon Grocott, trapped lbw, for 24.

Two overs later Nettleham had a minor collapse as Rasen picked up a team hat-trick thanks to a run-out by Gary Bierlein and two wickets for Darren Salmon in the space of 3 balls to leave Nettleham struggling on 37-4.

Once Karl Bierlein joined brother Gary in the attack the result was never in doubt.

Despite a well-played 27 not out from Daniel McCardell, Nettleham were eventually bowled out for 92 in the 32nd over.

Gary finished with figures of 4 for 23 off 11 overs, while Karl posted figures of 3 for 17 off 6.5 overs.

The result puts Rasen 11 points clear at the top with only three games remaining.

On Saturday, the Second XI are home to Clee Town Laportes with a 1pm start.