Bradenham Cricket Club made it two away wins out of two this week after they won on the road at Martham on May 27 in an entertaining match in the Norfolk Cricket Alliance Division One.

Batting first, the Bears welcomed back opener Brendan Scott after a short absence but co-opener, Alex Bates was unfortunately caught off the 3rd ball of the innings. 

No. 3 Josh Watts was soon into his stride, peppering the boundary with anything wayward offered from the home team’s opening bowlers and scored 40 off 24 balls before being caught. 

Skipper Rob Ellis (34) continued the onslaught with Will Dewing chipping in with 13 but it was Matt Baybrook and Tim Hoare – batting 7 and 8 for Bradenham – who did the damage as far as Martham were concerned. 

Playing their shots freely, they scored 34 and 55 respectively creating a new club record partnership for the 7th wicket of 95. The innings closed on a formidable 263 all-out.

READ MORE: Bradenham Cricket Club thanks businesses for Sponsorship

Martham’s start was no better than Bradenham’s as opener Sexton was bowled by Dewing for 0 in the first over. 

Allen also went for 0 caught by Hoare off Ellis and when opener Sayer went for a good 53, it was left to Tipping and Colclough to try and steady the ship. 

The former batted very well reaching 74 before Bates struck and the latter 27 when he was caught behind off Dewing. At the tail end, Smith (23) and Lanka (12) contributed well but overs were running out and the home team finished 34 runs short on 230. The joint men of the match were Matt Braybrook and Tim Hoare for their contribution with the bat.

Skipper Rob Ellis said: “This was a very enjoyable game played in great spirit by both teams and we were only sure of a win in the last few overs. Credit to Martham for pressing hard but credit to our boys also for meeting the challenge well.”

The match was sponsored by Westcotec. Bradenham CC’s main sponsor is W C Littleproud and Son.