Fakenham the new leaders of the NCB Summer League
Fakenham are the early leaders of the NCB Summer Saturday 2020 competition after beating visiting local rivals North Runcton by five wickets at Highfield Lawn.
Both Fakenham and North Runcton are the only teams to have had two Group 1 fixtures, with Fakenham on six points and Runcton on four.
Jack Major top scored for North Runcton with 40 off 53 balls with seven fours, but did not get much support.
Luke Caswell bowled Runcton danger man and captain Benjamin Coote, who scored a century last week, first ball; while David Coyle and Paul Lough, making the step up from playing for Bircham last season, both took three wickets.
Fakenham openers Keegan Monahan-Fairlie (30) and Ben Harvey (43) top scored, to ensure the hosts gained a good platform on the way to victory and four points.
There was a North Runcton debut for Jacob Lockheart, good bowling from George Means, 1-26 off six, and Joe Gent, 1-14 off four, but Runcton’s man-of-the-match was Jack Major who with 40 runs also took 1-22 off his eight overs.
For Fakenham, Ben Harvey was their MoM, two catches behind the stumps and an unbeaten 43.
In Group Three, Swaffham opener Alexander Payne top scored with 86 but they lost at Dereham by three wickets. Swaffham won the toss and elected to bat.
They set 226 and looked to be working their way through the home order but number eight bat James Harbour foiled them with a vital 40.
In Group Five, North Runcton lost to Bradenham by nine wickets after Darryn Faivelowitz and fifty-maker Sri Sivaraman had given them a promising start.
Downham Town 2nds beat Sandringham by 24 runs at the Memorial Playing Field.
In Group Six, a magnificent unbeaten first-wicket partnership of 165 between Jack Ashford (not out 91) and Ben Ashford (not out 45) meant ten-man Fakenham CC 2nds triumphed by nine wickets at Swardeston.
Wicketeeper Jack scored off 93 balls with 16 fours, while Ben supported off 67 balls with six boundaries to make light of their 162 target.
In Group 17, Dersingham’s Southgates dominated with the bat to defeat Thornham 2nds by eight wickets, chasing down a 158 target in merely 20 overs.
Opener J Southgate smashed 89 from just 59 balls with 14 fours and three sixes. Ollie Southgate weighed in with 43 from 47 balls with eight fours and a six.
Captain of Castle Rising 2nds Calum Crome-Russell and fellow opener Matt Footman added 83 together, but the hosts collapsed to crash by 68 runs at David Lindley Memorial Field to Rocklands A.
Sunday
NRCC 226-6 vs Narborough 177-6
A nice win for Runcton in a 40 over game with number three batsmen Jamie White batting attractively to score 82 runs.
Some good bowling from seamers Amy Cubitt, 3-28 off seven, and and Lucas Triffitt, with 2-18 off eight, secured the victory.
For Narborough, opener C. Steeles and number four C. Titmarsh scored 63 and 67 respectivel.
With bowler J. George taking three of North Runcton’s wickets during their innings, there were some fine performances all round.
n More cricket on page 61 of today’s paper.
