Bradenham suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of league leaders Ashmanhaugh and Barton Wanderers.

The visitors always looked up against it as they were skittled out for just 83 runs in 25.2 overs on Saturday.

Ashmanhaugh and Barton, who sit top of the table, chased down their target in less than 16 overs for the loss of a single wicket.

The thrashing saw Bradenham drop to eighth in Division One of the Norfolk Cricket Alliance.

After Bears captain Rob Ellis opted to bat first on a green-looking track, Wanderers' opening bowlers Joe Everett and Ayush Verma soon had the ball zipping around.

Everett produced an unplayable delivery in his first over to dismiss the in-form Brendan Scott, before a mistimed shot from Matt Blowers saw him depart in Verma's second over.

By the time Marcus Evans went to an unfortunate run out for the second time in as many weeks, Bradenham already seemed destined for a damaging defeat.

Ellis and Will Dewing played some good shots but could only manage 15 and 17 respectively, both falling to the spin of the excellent Nuwan Jayasena.

He eventually accounted for half of the Bears' batters, taking 5-16.

Josh Watts contributed 17, but Bradenham's total ended up being well below par as they were bowled out with almost half their overs remaining.

With what appeared to be a simple run chase in front of them, the Everett opened the innings for Wanderers and began in solid fashion.

Will Dewing was unlucky with the ball, however, regularly passing both batsmen's outside edge.

Ultimately, it was Jeff Turner who would take the only wicket for Bradenham, having Joe Everett caught by Dewing for 16.

Jordan Everett (35no) and Tristan Elam (27no) saw the home team across the line in the 16th over.

Reflecting on the disappointing performance, vice captain Brendan Scott said: "This was always going to be a difficult fixture.

"Wanderers are a very good all-round team and worthy of their position on top of the tree.

"Unfortunately, we couldn’t take our recent form into the match and we’ll have to regroup before another hard game."

Bradenham's next game is against second-placed Sprowston at The Green on Saturday, July 9.