Several Norfolk League players took full advantage of the sunny conditions this week, writes Mike Ridout.
In Division One on Saturday, Caister's Paul Brown (107 not out), Rob Brown (52), and Shaun Goodby (3-9) were the stars as they overcame East Harling comfortably. Andy Norman hit 50 runs in 17 balls as Cringleford Lodge beat Belton.
Kirkley & Lowestoft Railway recorded their first victory of the season at home to Great Yarmouth with Marcus Hayes scoring 57 and Chris Lambert taking 5-22. Two unbeaten sides met and it was Happisburgh who ended Blundeston's record to go clear at the top.
Andy Denny made 50 and Tim Woods 60 as Drayton posted 189-7. But with Tom Keene scoring 49 and Ben Graver making 62no, Sprowston B got home for the loss of just four wickets in Division Two. John Worby scored 58 for Ketteringham Hall and Ashok Sharma took impressive figures of 4-6 as Norwich Bystanders beat Costessey. Eaton's unbeaten start to the season ended abruptly as they were defeated by second-placed Saxlingham for whom Johnny Howard scored 51no and Mohamed Nifras took 3-29.
In 3E both Old Catton A and Gillingham scored 200-plus on the road to record good wins against Aylsham St Giles and Felthorpe A. Teenager Devan Branningham scored 54 for Winterton A in their victory, and Overstrand won again to create a three-way split at the top of the division with Winterton and Gillingham. In 3W Old Buckenham B set Hethersett & Tas Valley B 250 to win with Sean Robinson scoring 104, but a good team effort saw H & TV home with Ross Jones scoring 66. Jojo Pazhayattk made 97 for Hingham in a losing cause, whilst Reepham and Salle and North Elmham both recorded comfortable victories.
Unusually there were several low scoring games in 4E, due to some very good bowling, the pick of which came from David Read of Kirkley & Lowestoft Railway A, who recorded figures of 6-18. Acle B were one side to buck the trend, making 275 with Owen Gooch hitting 91 and Lee McMahon scoring 137no as they defeated Martham A. In 4W Garboldisham C scored 266 (Rob Leech 115) to beat Norwich Bystanders A (Will Fisher 111). Rocklands A were in dominant form, scoring 233 with Ben Webster making 86. Alan Minter then took 5-33 to restrict Old Catton B to 132.
There were only two fixtures in Division 5E. George Paine made 58 as Diss B won against Hethersett & Tas Valley C. In 5W Dereham B's Adam Gooch took 4-31 to put them in a strong position against Beeston, but the latter tasted victory as Matt White took 5-34. The division's two unbeaten sides met at Thornham where Beetley won by six runs. Phil Taylor made 58 for Beetley while Billy Brotherton took 5-39 for Thornham. However, the performance of the day was seen at Swanton Morley A where Aaron Riseborough and James White shared a partnership of 291 in North Elmham A's 366-1. Riseborough ended with 262no with what was described by one observer as some of the cleanest hitting he had ever seen.
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