Great Melton C v Beccles BGREAT Melton C won the toss and elected to bat in warm, humid conditions. George King had an immediate escape when he pulled a long hop from M Smith to mid-wicket in the air, with the catch dropped after several attempts.

Great Melton C v Beccles B

GREAT Melton C won the toss and elected to bat in warm, humid conditions. George King had an immediate escape when he pulled a long hop from M Smith to mid-wicket in the air, with the catch dropped after several attempts.

The opening partnership with Malcolm Howard progressed well to 40 off nine overs. George King (18) was then caught at mid-off. Navin Sharma departed quickly to the persistent M Smith, which brought the in-form Simon Brett to the crease. A partnership of 44 from seven overs developed before Howard skyed a short of a length delivery from the accurate J Cocking to L Smith.

Srini Krishnamurthy (50) then joined Brett (60) and they steadily took the game away from Beccles. A 98-run partnership in 16 overs meant a challenging total was going to be achieved. George Ducker kept the scoreboard moving towards the end with 11 not out. The tempo of the innings was maintained throughout at about five per over. The innings closed on 222 for eight.

This was always going to be a challenging target for Beccles B. Ryan Hemmings quickly dismissed J Barber when he lofted a cut to Howard at point. Beccles began to fall behind the required run rate.

L Smith (19) began to build a partnership with Patrick before he was run out well by George Ducker as a quick leg bye was attempted. When Patrick fell to Callum Cameron two overs later little resistance remained and the last wicket was caught by Mark Flatman off the bowling of George King with the score on 149. A comfortable Great Melton C victory by 73 runs.

Great Ellingham A v Garboldisham A

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Garboldisham lost a wicket to the first ball of the match. This brought K Eagle (71) to the crease, who held the remainder of the innings together despite good bowling, and in particular, excellent spells from W Thompson (10-5-27-2) and C Oxborough (10-1-27-2). Garboldisham finished on 176 for seven.

With the weather closing in, Great Ellingham needed to score runs quickly and got off to a fantastic start with a first-wicket partnership of 149 from C Drew (59) and B Potter (74 not out). With the loss of Drew, Potter hit some lusty blows to finish the match in the 22nd over, beating the rain by less than five minutes. Another great performance by Ellingham young guns, who have now won three on the bounce and face Wicklewood in a crunch match next weekend.

Mid Norfolk League

Burgess Shield Division Two

Belton v Great Ellingham

GREAT ELLINGHAM began the first game of four consecutive away trips on a high note after a poor showing last time against Kirkley.

Belton won the toss and elected to bat. With the new ball at their disposal, attacking fields and accurate bowling, Ellingham began well. The opening bursts from Standley and Ledeboer only saw 28 runs scored off the first 10 overs. That said, the opening partnership of Bird (17) and Bareham (16) amassed 61 runs before Smith made the breakthrough. He bowled a fine spell, ending with figures of three for 18. Another fruitful partnership between Ashling (24) and Ware (13) saw the score to 91 before Glover made the breakthrough. His figures were three for 41. Belton were dismissed 120 inside 39 overs.

In reply, the Ellingham openers got off to a flyer. They put on on 87 in 15 overs before Ewin (22) was adjudged lbw. A fine knock from Cooper (63) saw Ellingham home inside 23 overs with eight wickets to spare. Ellingham travel to Worstead next week.

Hethersett and Tas Valley were without a fixture for the second week running and once again the spotlight fell on the promotion chasing second XI, who made short work of beating bottom club Mundford by eight wickets in the Norfolk Alliance Division Six.

HETHERSETT won the toss and put Mundford in and restricted the opposition to 146 for eight from their 46 overs, with John Curtis taking three for 43 from 12 overs.

With thunderstorms threatening, Hethersett were in a hurry to reach their target and took just 16.4 overs at well over a run a ball. Openers Rob Mitchell and Stephen Hayes were the star turns with 48 and 58 not out respectively. Matt Steward scored a quick-fire 24 as Hethersett and Tas Valley reached 152 for two. Victory puts them level on points with second placed Lowestoft A.

HETHERSETT AND TAS VALLEY III beat Garboldisham III by 107 runs in the Norfolk League Division Seven. Hethersett batted first and scored 238 in 44.2 overs, with Brian Burrett unbeaten on 79. They bowled Garboldisham out for just 131, with John Nash taking four for 46 and Julian Emeny three for 50.

Hethersett and Tas Valley's Sunday Mid-Norfolk League Division One game against Hellesdon was abandoned due to rain. Hellesdon scored 203, with Al Watts taking five for 27 and Geoff Chappell three for 45. Hethersett replied with 166 for four when the weather intervened.

This week the first team have their first game for three weeks when they hope to get a possible promotion push back on track with a visit to Ashmanhaugh. The seconds are at home to Saxlingham and the thirds visit Great Melton IV in the Norfolk League.

Hingham A v Martham A

HINGHAM A produced arguably their best performance of the season to cruise to a 186-run victory over Martham A, a side they had suffered a disappointing defeat against just seven days earlier.

Having been put into bat, Hingham's openers Morland (70) and Wright (30) gave the perfect base for a big total. This was then followed up with batsmen 3 (Juby 40) and 4 (Garwood 34) adding further runs at a quick pace. With the overs swiftly running out, Chilleystone (14no) and Johnson (20no) took the score past 200.

Martham A's batting suffered an incredible collapse, which saw six wickets fall while the score was still in the 20s. Much of this was down to inspired bowling from Wright (7-18) who caused havoc with the bounce he found on what had seemed a flat pitch. The Martham A innings was eventually tied up for 50.

A much improved performance from Hingham A, and one that puts Andy Wright in the frame for best bowling figures of the year - making him the third Hingham player to hold the top spot this season.

Great Ellingham U11s v Garboldisham U11s

Ellingham built a solid score of 60 with a consistent batting display from all, Thompson (18 not out) being the pick of the Ellingham batsmen. The pick of the Garboldisham bowling was Freddie (3-2-5-0).

In reply, Garboldisham got off to a quick start with 23 off the first four overs, but with the loss of Blake (14), the run rate dropped. Excellent fielding and a splendid run-out by Walting held Garboldisham to 57, three short of the Ellingham total.