SKEGNESS' ECB Premier League title challenge appears to be over after they suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Lindum on Saturday.

Tony Santini's seasiders were thrashed by a massive 133-runs as they failed to surpass the 207-run target Lindum had set them on a wet wicket at Richmond Drive.

A four-pronged Lindum bowling attack shared the damage done to the Skegness order but it was the 109-run second wicket stand of Karanjit Bansal (49) and Alex Hornsby (88) which proved decisive.

However, Lindum's star of the show Hornsby has suggested the absence of Roald Badenhorst from the home side's bowling attack may have impacted upon the result.

"We were pleasantly surprised that their overseas professional Badenhorst didn't bowl. I think he had a bad back or something," said Hornsby.

"He has been their main wicket-taker this season and has played a big part in their success, so when we knew he wasn't playing we saw it as an opportunity."

Hornsby went on to reveal the importance of Lindum's bowling attack, as they crucially restricted both Badenhorst and opener Saeed Bariwala.

Hornsby remained modest though when describing the catch he made to give Bariwala his marching orders.

"Badenhorst can bat a bit too, so getting him out was good for us. Pierce (Morley-Barnes) got him with a good ball too," he said.

"Saeed's was a big wicket for us, we know when he gets in he can score quite quickly. It was an all right catch. I think he (Bariwala) got the timing of his shot wrong and just holed it out to mid-off and I made a fairly regulation catch."

Hornsby's 88 was his highest score of the season in the ECB Premier, but despite missing that landmark century knock for 2010 has the team's best batting average of 35 from 11 innings.

And Hornsby stated the importance of his century-stand with Bansal after the loss of an early wicket in the Lindum innings.

"It was good to get a few runs for myself, especially on a tricky wicket which had taken on a lot of moisture from the week's rain," said Hornsby, who has played for Lindum since 2003.

"They (Skegness) put us in to bat and we lost an early wicket so I knew I'd need to knuckle down when I went in.

"Me and Karanjit stayed in though and batted patiently together and put on over a hundred in the end, which turned out to be a match-winning stand."

Bansal's pursuit of his first half-century this season was halted at 49, when he was run out due to a mix-up with team-mate Hornsby.

But the latter says both of the batsmen must take blame for the dismissal.

"It was a bit of a mix-up, it was just one of those things that happens in cricket," said Hornsby.