High five for Loddon A

Loddon A met Happisburgh at home in the second game of the league. With a hard pitch and the sun blazing, R Edmonds was disappointed to lose the toss and field first.

Returning Loddon A bowlers, A Wells and G Clow, took the new ball against the Happisburgh openers.

It soon became clear that Happisburgh opener C Peck was in no mood to hang around as he punished anything offline.

Clow bowled extremely well, holding a tight line and length, but Wells struggled to find his rhythm and was replaced by A Aldred. He had an almost instant effect, as Peck hit straight to Edmonds, who dropped a fairly simple catch.

That was followed up by a nick behind that was also floored by J Perry. Clow bowled an excellent spell and was unfortunate not to get a wicket, and was replaced by another returning bowler, R Andrews, who had a tricky start, dragging his length short, which the openers took advantage of, with Peck bringing up his 50 in double-quick time.

Andrews soon found his trademark line and length and was rewarded when he frustrated Peck's partner, who chipped to T Jermy for 28. This was followed up by the wicket of captain, D Trivett, who was smartly run out by Jermy for 0.

Spin duo N Reeve and T Jermy then entered the bowling attack. This lack of pace slowed the batsmen down, and Happisburgh's number four suffered, being caught by N Reeve for six off Jermy.

Jermy was unlucky not to pick up more wickets, having Peck dropped three times, and having the number five batsman in all sorts of trouble.

However, Reeve could not find his length and forced Edmonds to bring himself on. Peck enjoyed the extra pace, finding a couple more boundaries, but once Edmonds found a fuller length, the batsmen were limited to singles and twos.

Andrews also came on to bowl at the death. Edmonds got the breakthrough, bowling Happisburgh's number five for quick 33 and Andrews followed this up by bowling M Cousins for seven.

It got down to the final over and Peck was on 98. Edmonds managed to bowl five dot balls, but Peck managed to flick the final ball to fine leg for four to bring up his century - an excellent innings, holding Happisburgh's innings of 195 for five together. It was going to require a big effort from Loddon A to chase down such a big target.

Loddon A openers A Edmonds and N Reeve set about giving Loddon the solid start they needed. Both did well, rotating the strike, but only Reeve found the boundary once, and after nine overs was bowled for eight.

This brought captain R. Edmonds to the crease, who made his intentions clear, hitting his third ball for four. R and A Edmonds kept the score ticking over, but this would not be enough get to the mammoth target. R Edmonds rode his luck, being dropped several times, and evading fielders.

A Edmonds was bowled in the 17th over for 14, followed by G.Hall (6), caught behind off R Mash, bringing half-century maker from last week, A Aldred, to the crease.

At this stage Loddon A were 56 for three off 22 overs. They saw the opening bowlers off and set about taking advantage of some ordinary bowling from the change bowlers.

Both batted extremely well, finding singles whenever they couldn't get boundaries. M Cousins came on to bowl and was clattered for a trio of boundaries by Aldred.

Both Edmonds and Aldred brought up their half-centuries, but knew their job was not done yet. With the pressure on, slow bowlers S Andrews and T Taylor were brought on and made life difficult for the batsmen, with no pace on the ball.

With five overs remaining, Loddon A still needed 32 runs to win, and with the batsmen tiring, this was going to require a big effort. R Edmonds helped the cause, hitting Taylor back over his head for six, but with the pressure on, Aldred was stumped trying to hit a six in the penultimate over, finishing with an excellent 57.

J Perry came to the crease and quickly got into his stride, and with seven to win off the final over, captain Trivett brought himself back on, making for a tense finish. It started well, with Perry taking two off the second ball and another dangerous two off the third ball, followed by a wide, but was bowled by the next delivery.

This left Wells and Edmonds needing two runs off two balls. Trivett bowled a wide half volley to Wells, which he greeted with a cover drive to get the two runs Loddon A required for the win, leaving Edmonds 78 not out, and Loddon A winning by five wickets.

This was a massive win for Loddon A, who never gave up the thought of winning and gave total effort right to the end.

Musker McKintyre men of the match were A Aldred and R Edmonds for their partnership of 128 off 22 overs.