NORFOLK Ladies' opening bowler Louise Cadge took 6-21 from 10 overs for Vauxhall Mallards B to rip through the home side's batting, as Thetford A just salvaged a losing draw in Norfolk Alliance Division Six.

NORFOLK Ladies' opening bowler Louise Cadge took 6-21 from 10 overs for Vauxhall Mallards B to rip through the home side's batting, as Thetford A just salvaged a losing draw in Norfolk Alliance Division Six.

Thetford captain Steve Conroy opted to field on a damp, slow pitch and scoring immediately proved difficult for the Mallards openers. Lewis Greyson was rewarded for his accuracy by bowling J Spaxman and T McCarthy when both played poor shots to straight balls.

Mallards were in trouble at 13-2, but Cadge and J Stone then took the score to the 50 mark before Stone (22) top edged a chance to mid-off that was well-taken by Greyson. This came in Gavin Siriwardena's first over and he then bowled Cadge (19) in his third, after she had lived dangerously with a number of aerial shots and one dropped catch, but also including a six off Jason Peters.

Siriwardena (2-11) continued to bowl economically, but runs leaked from the other end as P Reynolds (40) and J Larke (16) survived to take the score past 100 in the 33rd over.

Paul Mleczek then broke their partnership and the game was very much in the balance, Mallards having a platform to push on to a competitive total and Thetford the opportunity to wrap up the innings cheaply.

Despite two more wickets for a returning Greyson, who bowled well to take 4-40, and a second for Mleczek (2-48), Thetford dropped five more catches and sloppy fielding leaked runs as Mallards put on 50 in the last 10 overs, including three fours from the final three balls from 11-year-old J Reynolds (27 not out).

Thetford then faced a tough target of 165 on a drying surface.

Cadge found Keith Greyson's edge in the fifth over. Nicky Shepherd followed him to the pavilion two balls later and Scott Richardson, looking in good touch, steered McCarthy (1-13) straight to square leg. When Cadge removed both Mleczek and Simon Lewis in her sixth over, Thetford's challenge was over at 24-5.

Siriwardena and Steve Conroy opted for survival and looked to frustrate the Mallards attack. They succeeded for 20 overs as accurate bowling from Adam Penton (1-16) and J Stone (0-21), allied to increasingly erratic bounce as the pitch dried, made scoring difficult. Siriwardena (13) was finally caught off a ball that “popped” with the score on 59 and Conroy (24) followed three overs later.

Ryan Conroy (10) looked good once again until Cadge returned and bowled him with an excellent outswinger. This left Peters, Lewis Greyson and Glen James to see out the final five overs to deny Mallards an outright win and they stuck to their task diligently, despite Peters becoming Cadge's sixth victim and James surviving a close lbw shout.

Thetford were outplayed again in this game, losing to a young side who bowled more consistently and fielded more sharply.

Several Thetford batsmen are still short of form in 2009, but the team is capable of putting together winning performances in this league with greater application.