Bradenham Bears lost by 16 runs in a tense match against Great Melton in the Junior Carter Cup.

Captain Will Dewing invited Melton to bat and his decision was rewarded when Tom Donnelly had opener Wyatt well caught by Jason Ward for six. Greenslade joined Farmer at the wicket and, together, they put on 74 for the second wicket. Jason Ward finally provided the spark that the Bears were looking for having Farmer caught and bowled for 71 and then running out Greenslade – hitting the stumps with a superb throw – for 41. Melton finished their allotted overs with a total of 186 for five. Bradenham bowlers Dewing, Donnelly, Ward and Henman all took a wicket each.

When Bradenham had lost three wickets with the score on 48, it looked as if the writing was on the wall. Dewing saw things differently however and when Robert Ellis joined him in the middle, the two of them went about their business superbly. Dewing picked up the pace and they pushed the score past 100 in the next nine overs and by the 29th over, Bradenham had moved on to 145.

To cap a brilliant innings, Dewing moved to his century with a big six. He went for 102 when caught trying another agressive shot and with Ellis also gone for 20, the Bradenham tail failed to wag and they finished an agonising 16 runs short.