MATTISHALL were well beaten by Norwich in Alliance Division One.Steve Livermore blasted 114 and Mark Tipping hit 54 as Norwich reached 198-1 to win by nine wickets.

MATTISHALL were well beaten by Norwich in Alliance Division One.

Steve Livermore blasted 114 and Mark Tipping hit 54 as Norwich reached 198-1 to win by nine wickets. Mattishall had made 194-9 (Neil Lockwood 56.)

A depleted Mattishall A played their first game for three weeks but were still unable to finish their match due to the poor weather.

Mattishall made a good start, reducing local rivals Bradenham A to 23-3 and then thought they had taken a fourth wicket, of Evans with a fine edge to the keeper. However, he escaped and went on to make an important 43, adding 59 with Denmark (27).

Stasin (3-30) Talbot (1-19) Findlay (2-24) and Forder (2-21) all bowled very well but a couple of missed catches allowed Bradenham to total a par score of 149-9.

Mattishall's openers got off to the worst possible start both making ducks, and when the third wicket went at only 17 Mattishall were on the back foot. However Stasin (31 not out) and Spalding made a partial recovery until Spalding and Findlay were bowled in successive balls. The third downpour of the game at around 7.40pm with 21 overs still to bowl put paid to the chances of a result

A makeshift Mattishall A team took on the touring East Herts Cavaliers who put on 77 for the first wicket in only 12 overs. Nathan Gostling (10-1-28-3) slowed things down but King continued to blaze away until bowled for 63 out of the first 93.

Once N Gostling had finished his spell the arrival of the previous day's centurion looked daunting to Mattishall. He swiftly moved to 29 when Mulchandani's first ball was pulled to the distant mid-wicket boundary where Cross hung on to a good catch. Bingham also took a couple of late wickets to keep the score within reason.

John Grant bowled for the first time for years and maintained a tidy line against the onslaught of the visiting batsmen.

After tea Mattishall soon lost Cross to a fast bouncer but the veterans Weetman and Hudson added 26 to repair the damage. Weetman was then out to a fantastic left-handed diving catch, and Hudson soon followed.

Nathan Gostling and Nathan Forder (23) batted well to add 42 for the fourth wicket, followed by Smith and Gostling adding 69. Mattishall found it difficult to score quickly enough against the slow bowlers and faced 10 an over.

Once Nathan Gostling was bowled for a fine 67 and Smith run out for 25 the wickets tumbled. The last pair Grant (15 not out) and Mulchandani (10 not out) had the satisfaction of keeping the 10th wicket intact and taking the score over the 200 mark.