Dereham A (7pts) lost to Bradfield A (23) by two wickets in the Frankly Digital Norfolk Alliance Division Six

Dereham A went down to a narrow two-wicket defeat to visitors Bradfield A.

Dereham lost the toss and batted. Ian Battelley (20) and Paul Taylor (24) got them off to a solid start, then John West – who top scored with 32 – kept the scoreboard ticking.

But the middle order failed to build on the total and only Tom Head (18) and Bradley Raper (14 not out) reached double figures.

Raper and Tom Clarke (four) added an important 27 for the ninth wicket to take Dereham A past the 150 mark to earn a third batting point.

Alex Johnson (5-28) was the pick of the visitors' bowlers.

Dereham A needed early wickets to put Bradfield under pressure but the openers set a swift pace to take the score to 30 before Bradley Raper struck to remove Whitehouse.

The innings see-sawed as Bradfield's batsmen started to build innings before Dereham A took wickets.

Raper took 2-35, Liam O'Callaghan took 2-15 and Ian Battelley bowled straight through his 12 overs to get 4-33.

When Bradfield's seventh wicket went down with more than 30 runs still needed, Dereham A scented victory. And if a couple of chances had stuck in the hands, they may have bowled the visitors out.

But Batholomew and Register both scored unbeaten 11s to see them home.

Dereham A have now lost three consecutive games and need to build bigger totals and earn more points. They are at Vauxhall Mallards B on Saturday.

Dereham A: P Taylor b Johnson 24, I Battelley c b Johnson 20, J West b Rose 32, I Clarke c wicketkeeper b Johnson 0, J Irons c-b Rose 9, J Harbour c-b Rose 5, T Head c b Whitehouse 18, G Pledger b Bartholomew 3, B Raper not out 14, T Clarke b Johnson 4, L O'Callaghan ct wicketkeeper b Johnson 0; extras 31. Total 152. Bowling: M Seago 11-3-46-0, W Bartholomew 11-5-18-1, A Johnson 9.3-3-28-5, J Rose 8-0-32-3, W Whitehouse 4-0-17-1.

Bradfield A: N Whitehouse c Harbour b Raper 12, A Robinson b O'Callaghan 14, M Seago b O'Callaghan 14, A Johnson c Harbour b Battelley 19, J Rose c Taylor b Battelley 31, G Phillips c Head b Battelley 8, S Abbs b Battelley 7, L McCarthy b Raper 5, L Bartholomew not out 11, K Register not out 11; extras 22. Total (8 wkts) 153. Bowling: B Raper 12-0-35-2, I Clarke 4-0-18-0, T Head 11-0-40-0, L O'Callaghan 6-1-15-2, I Battelley 12-2-33-4.