Cromer v Topcroft (H)

Norfolk Alliance Premier Division

Following defeats in their first two games Cromer were hoping for a positive result when Topcroft visited the Norton Warnes ground on Saturday.

The visitors won the toss and put Cromer into bat. Electing to bowl first Topcroft would have hoped to take a couple of early wickets but they failed to make that early breakthrough as the young opening pair of Ollie Kimber and David Turner saw off the opening bowlers and put on a stand of 67 before Turner fell off the bowling of Du Plessis.

The Topcroft overseas Du Plessis slowed down the run rate and took two more wickets including that of Kimber for 40.

After drinks the spin bowling from both Du Plessis and David Todd was limiting the Cromer batsmen to very few scoring shots. Once their spells were over Du Plessis had figures of 3 for 34 and Todd 2 for 31. One of Todd’s wickets was that of Michael Warnes who hit a valuable 25.

With 10 overs remaining Cromer were 129 for 6 but with plenty of batting still to come they wanted to push towards 175. Colin Brown hit 23 from 25 balls and Adrian Buck scored 21 from 23 deliveries. These quick fire innings’ helped Cromer post a total of 171 as the last wicket fell in the 49^th over.

Topcroft’s Ian Todd picked up the final two wickets and ended with 2 for 27.

Topcroft required 172 for victory and they had 51 overs to do it in.

The Cromer opening bowlers Warnes and Craske bowled tight line and restricted Topcroft to less than 2 runs an over for the first 10 overs.

The home side got the first wicket in the 15^th over. Two more quick dismissals were to follow, including that of Du Plessis who failed to trouble the scorers thanks to some sharp work in the field from Warnes. The batting side were now 32 for 3 from 18 overs and the bowlers seemed to be in control. Topcroft captain James Goodfellow was now in the middle and he had other ideas hitting several boundaries and the rate increased quickly and the game looked to be ending for a tight finish.

With six overs remaining Topcroft required 29 runs with 5 wickets in hand. Then came a big twist in the game. Colin Brown got the vital wicket of Goodfellow for 66. With the danger man gone a new hope came into the Cromer side and all of a sudden victory was in their sights but their was still a lot of work to do.

Kristian Regis dismissed Mattocks but three more wickets had to fall in the final two overs. Brown bowled the penultimate overs and in this he dismissed Rostron for 25 and Holmes for 1. The double wicket maiden couldn’t have come at a better time and Cromer now required one more wicket in the final over.

James Craske had the responsibility of bowling this over and he got the final man with two balls to spare and secured Cromer’s first win of the season.

Colin Brown finished with figures of 3 for 24 from 10 overs and Dean Elliott took 2 for 27 from 10 overs.

A superb display from Cromer in the field with some excellent catches and brilliant bowling at times when it was really needed. This victory can only give the side confidence as they hope for another win this week when Swardeston come to Cromer.

Many thanks to the match sponsor for the Topcroft game, Mark Charlwood.

Cromer 171 all out (22pts) beat Topcroft 162 all out (7pts) by 9 runs

Cromer Innings

O. Kimber               c. P. Holmes b. P. Du Plessis           40

D. Turner                 bowled P. Du Plessis                       16

R. Charlwood          c. C. Hancock b. P. Du Plessis           0

M. Warnes               c & b D. Todd                                  25

T. Davies                 Run Out                                           6

D. Elliott                  lbw D. Todd                                    12

C. Brown                 c. G. Rostron b. A. Todd                  23

L. Davies                 c. C. Hancock b. A. Todd                 4

A. Buck                    c. A. Todd b. I. Todd                      21

K. Regis                   c. J. Goodfellow b. I. Todd              2

J. Craske                  Not Out                                             0

                                                            Extras 22

                                                Total (all out)                 171 from 48.3 overs

Topcroft Bowling

A. Todd 7-0-50-2, I. Todd 11.3-2-27-2, G. Rostron 4-1-19-0,

P. Du Plessis 13-3-34-3, D. Todd 13-2-31-2.

Topcroft Innings

C. Hancock                  lbw D. Elliott                               12

D. Todd                       c. K. Regis b. M. Warnes               5

P. Du Plessis               Run Out (M. Warnes)                     0

J. Goodfellow             c. D. Turner b. C. Brown                66

I. Todd                       bowled D. Elliott                             7

D. Reeder                   c & b R. Charlwood                       5

G. Rostron                  c. L. Davies b. C. Brown                25

G. Mattocks                lbw K. Regis                                   0

P. Holmes                  lbw C. Brown                                   1

B. Davey                    lbw J. Craske                                   0

A. Todd                     Not Out                                            0

                                                            Extras 41

                                                Total (all out)                  162 from 50.4 overs

Cromer Bowling

M. Warnes 13-4-46-1, J. Craske 8.4-0-21-1, D. Elliott 10-1-27-2, 

R. Charlwood 7-0-22-1, C. Brown 10-2-24-3, K. Regis 2-0-11-1.