SPOUT House’s Charlie Allott had local statisticians scrambling for Feversham League facts and figures as he pulverised the Slingsby attack to help his side go top of the table.

On a sunny evening in Bilsdale, Allott looked set to become what was thought by many to be the first player to ever hit a century in evening cricket at Spout House.

The Slingsby bowling was friendly, enabling the opener to frequently show off his favoured leg-side pull shot, often reaching the distant top side boundary, while the visitors had only nine men, creating gaps in the field. He also should have been caught early on.

But his innings was still superb, blasting to 86 with two overs left.

Unhappily for Allott, he missed out on a three-figure first. He could only watch at the non-striker’s end as Will Clayton came on to bowl his only over and bagged three wickets.

And then Allott could only muster a further six runs in the last over, leaving him on 92 not out, as Spout House closed on 133-7.

Slingsby’s response was aided by speedy running between the wickets, including three all-run fours. Opener A Machin made 18 and Clayton 27 not out, but James Allison, working up a good pace, finished with 3-22 as Slingsby were dismissed for 69.

Meanwhile, despite mustering only nine players for their Castleton’s Henry Flintoft Cup second round tie, Spout House booked a semi-final berth with an impressive 10-wicket victory over Lealholm at Castleton.

Lealholm totalled 100-8 in their 20 overs, being restricted by Jamie Thompson, whose 3-11 included the wicket of top-scorer Graham Featherstone (47), smartly stumped by Allott.

Lealholm opening bowler Paul Blackwell pulled a muscle and was unable to continue after conceding just four runs in three overs.

But Spout House’s opening pair, Allott (55no) and Alex Medd (50no), had handled that well and they picked up speed as they neared the target - Allott finishing the contest with five overs to spare by hitting two of his four sixes.