A four-wicket burst from pacer Matthew Nicholls left Spartan wobbling as Maple enjoyed one of their better days of the season.

On a hot day and hard-pressed to defend a modest first innings total, Maple counter-punched the opposition as Nicholls emerged as the strike weapon.

Nicholls, bowling with good pace and a troubling length and line, jolted the Spartan innings on a good batting strip as he grabbed four of the first five wickets to fall with only 29 runs on the board.

He eventually finished with five for 12, after causing problems for the visitors from as early as the third over, when opener Wayne Blackman offered no shot to an in-swinger that took his off stump.

Spartan were on the defensive in the final hour and, along with Blackman, Nicholls accounted for the wickets of Livy Puckerin, beaten by a ball that cut-back; Kery Lucas, who drove a full toss to extra-cover; Mark Lavine, on a mistimed hook attempt; and Stephen Leslie, who was dismissed as the ball rolled back onto his stumps.

Nicholls was well supported by accurate bowling from all-rounder Pedro Agard and later off-spinner Romain Benn who picked up the wicket of Ronnie Griffith with his fourth ball, in the day's incomplete final over.

Maple won the toss and opted to bat, and after being well-placed at 38 for one in the first 17 overs, they buckled to the leg-spin of Dave Marshall.

From 60 for five at tea, the home team added another 30 runs in losing their last five wickets as Marshall took six for 25 from 13 overs.

Other Scores:

Banks vs BET: Banks 146, BET 72-2
Pickwick vs Schools North: Pickwick 80-4
Police vs Wanderers: Police 316-7
YMPC vs Carlton: YMPC 141, 50-1
Schools South vs Empire: Schools 102, Empire 61-4