Hales and Loddon (9pts) lost to Mattishall (24) by one wicket in the Norfolk Alliance Division One.

H&L elected to bat first on what looked like an excellent track.

Opener D Harmer went cheaply. P Squire and G Summons, as in previous weeks, steadied the ship. But with the partnership on 68, Squire was bowled for 22.

Summons batted well for his 66 before being given out lbw.

A Jones came at number five and was soon into his stride and top scored for H&L with a whirlwind 86 before being bowled. Everyone contributed with H&L finishing on 268 for eight.

Mattishall set about their task briskly but lost wickets at regular intervals, with J Easter Smith (67) batting virtually through innings the only score of note before being caught. Unfortunately for H&L, Mattishall had a secret weapon coming in at No 11.

N Gostling single-handedly turned the match on its head by dispatching almost every scoring shot to the boundary and finished not out on 60 in a last-wicket partnership of 85. Mattishall won the match.

From a neutral spectator’s point of view this was certainly a spectacle with the result looking like a comfortable win for H&L until the final partnership of the day.

Within the last five or six seasons Hales have been the victors on several occasions in matches that looked lost but eventually turned round in their favour.

The moral of the day is that if the hard work is not done in the nets, then you cannot take for granted the reward of winning.

The H&L Alan Boswell Insurance Brokers man-of-the-match award goes to Aaron Jones for his 86, which should have been the match-winning performance.

Hales & Loddon: D Harmer b Cole 11, G Summons lbw Chetwood 66, P Squire b Lockwood 22, M Stewart lbw Chetwood 10, A Jones b Garner 86, C Andersen c Brown b T Spalding 6, S Arminger c Lockwood b Garner 12, R Andersen c Chetwood b Spalding 2, M Ingram not out 10, S Rowe not out 10; extras 33. Total (8 wkts) 268. Bowling: N Gostling 7-0-40-0, J Cole-5-1-20-1, N Lockwood 12-2-47-1, G Chetwood 13-1-50-2, T Spalding 8-0-58-2, A Garner 5-0-42-2.

Mattishall: C Brown run out 13, J Easter Smith c Andersen b Rowe 67, N Lockwood c-b Andersen 0, Chetwood c Arminger b Lovick 7, Hubbard c-b Rowe 14, J Cole lbw Rowe 16, M Balls st Arminger b Stewart 4, M Cross c Arminger b Lovick 24, T Spalding lbw Stewart 11, A Garner not out 15, N Gostling not out 60; extras 39. Total (9 wkts) 270. Bowling: R Andersen 10-0-62-1, M Lovick 13-2-58-2, S Rowe 11-1-49-3, M Ingram 6-1-35-0, M Stewart 8-0-48-2.