Suffolk easily dispose of Norfolk

Suffolk emerged comfortable winners against their old rivals at a blustery Manor Park at Horsford to make it two wins from their three matches so far in Group 4.

And with Cambridgeshire yesterday beating Berkshire, who have already qualified, it seems that whoever wins next Sunday’s match at Bury St Edmunds will accompany them through to the quarter-finals of this year’s competition.

Skipper Justin Bishop led from the front yesterday, scoring an undefeated 98 and also capturing two wickets as Suffolk outplayed their hosts, who were bowled out six overs shy of their maximum 50 overs.

However, Suffolk got off to a shaky start, losing the toss and then seeing Ben France fall to the first ball of the second over to a good catch in the gully before Paul Bradshaw made a mess of John Sadler’s stumps with his very next delivery.

But Suffolk rallied from five for two thanks firstly to a stand of 50 in 91 balls between Tom Huggins and Martyn Cull spanning 13 overs which was ended when the latter was bowled by James Spelman.

That brought Bishop to the crease and the all-rounder and his Bury St Edmunds club colleague Huggins started to take the game away from Norfolk in a stand of 133 in 174 balls in 101 minutes.

The pair batted sensibly at first before accelerating until the stand was ended in the 44th over when Huggins gloved a catch down the leg side and was caught by wicket-keeper Stephen Gray. His innings of 78 lasted 114 deliveries and contained seven fours and one six.

There was no respite for Norfolk’s bowlers as Chris Warn smashed his way to 39 off just 22 balls in an unbroken fifth-wicket alliance of 75 off only 40 balls.

Bishop, who has never scored a century for Suffolk, was to be denied when he was left stranded on 98 not out as Warn struck six, six, four, all in the region of mid-wicket, from the final three balls of the innings as the over cost 19.

Suffolk got off to the perfect start when Carl Rogers was dismissed by a superb diving catch by France in the gully off only the second ball of Norfolk’s reply. Peter Lambert soon followed before Spelman and Trevor Ward added 95 in 18 overs.

Spelman then spooned a catch to mid-wicket in the 22nd over and in the very next over Suffolk claimed the key wicket when former Surrey batsman Ward, whose 51 came off 63 balls laced with six fours and one six, went to a tumbling catch to his left by James Finch off his own bowling.

A further 51 had been added in 77 balls when Chris Swallow trapped Sam Arthurton leg before, and three runs later Gray was bowled by Finch.

Bishop then bowled Harry Bush behind his legs and two balls later Chris Brown was stumped by Warn standing up to Bishop. Warn took a running catch after George Walker skied the ball high into the air before Essex bowler Max Osborne made it two wickets in two balls by bowling Bradshaw to wrap up the win.

Horseford scorecard

SUFFOLK

T Huggins c Gray b Brown 78, B France c Arthurton b Bradshaw 0, J Sadler b Bradshaw 0, M Cull b Spelman 21, J Bishop not out 98,

C Warn not out 39. Extras 27. Total (for 4 wkts, off 50 overs) 263.

Did not bat: C Swallow, S Harvey, J Finch, M Osborne, B Stephens.

Fall: 1-5, 2-5, 3-55, 4-188.

Bowling: Warnes 90-0-51-0; Bradshaw 10-1-43-2; Spelman 10-3-18-1; Walker 6-0-35-0; Brown 10-0-72-1; Rogers 5-0-33-0.

NORFOLK

C Rogers c France b Osborne 0, P Lambert b Stephens 4, J Spelman c Bishop b France 47, T Ward c & b Finch 51, S Arthurton lbw b Swallow 28, H Bush b Bishop 31, S Gray b Finch 2, G Walker c Warn b Osborne 23, C Brown st Warn b Bishop 0, P Bradshaw b Osborne 3, M Warnes not out 0. Extras 17. Total (off 44 overs) 206.

Fall: 1-0, 2-14, 3-109, 4-111, 5-162, 6-165, 7-199, 8-199, 9-206, 10-206.

Bowling: Osborne 8-0-47-3; Stephens 4-0-22-1; France 9-1-27-1; Bishop 6-0-25-2; Swallow 7-0-44-1; Finch 10-0-34-2.

Suffolk won by 57 runs.