Thetford A played Lowestoft A, and with both teams near the foot of the Alliance Division Six table a win for either side was vital.

And Thetford gained a much-needed win (and 25 points) with a 65-run win.

Lowestoft won the toss and elected to field first. Thetford made a steady but secure start with Keith Greyson and Peter Terry putting on 56 before Terry (20 not out) had to retire with a knee injury.

The in-form Gavin Siriwardena then came and went without scoring leaving Greyson and Nicky Shepherd (20) to take the score to 117 before Greyson was stumped for 56. Several other contributions, Scott Richardson (25), Danny Phelps (29) and Mark Fowler (28 not out) boosted the run rate allowing Thetford to finish on 239-8 after their 46 overs.

After tea, Thetford’s bowling again left a lot to be desired with the bad ball being punished all too regularly with 46 coming off eight overs but importantly Lowestoft had lost two wickets.

When Keith Greyson (8-6-11-2) came on to bowl he quickly removed the dangerous Fletcher (30) thanks to a fine sharp catch at short mid wicket by Stuart Terry.

From this point Lowestoft decided to consolidate taking the score to 95-4 in the 26th over before Daniel Greyson bowled Laurence de Coteau for 28.

Nixon (39) and Cooke (21) then decided attack was the best form of defence and with more erratic bowling scored 65 off the next eight overs.

However, a return to the opening bowlers quickly brought results with the last five wickets falling for only 13 runs bringing respectability to Siriwardena’s (4-37) and Phelps’ (3-38) bowling figures.

Lowestoft A finished on 174 all out giving Thetford A a much-needed victory.

Thetford A: K Greyson st Cooke b Haverson 56, P Terry rtd ht 20, G Siriwardena c de Coteau b Haverson 0, N Shepherd c Rice b Goldspink 20, S Richardson c de Coteau b Tirimanna 25, S Terry b Haverson 10, D Phelps c Larter b Goldspink 29, M Fowler not out 28, T Wood c Cooke b Shea 7, G James b Palmer 5, D Greyson not out 0; extras 39. Total (8 wkts) 239. Bowling: Shea 9-0-36-1, Palmer 8-1-44-1, Tirimanna 8-0-41-1, Haverson 12-1-61-3, Goldspink 9-3-38-2.

Lowestoft A: P Rice c S Terry b Phelps 13, K Goldspink c Shepherd b Siriwardena 1, D Fletcher c S Terry b K Greyson 30, S Larter b K Greyson 11, L de Coteau b D Greyson 28, W Nixon lbw b Phelps 39, W Cooke b Siriwardena 21, R Tirimanna c P Terry b Siriwardena 4, M Shea b Phelps 0, A Haverson b Siriwardena 0, A Palmer not out 3; extras 24. Total 174. Bowling: G Siriwardena 6-0-37-4, D Phelps 9-0-38-3, K Greyson 8-6-11-2, D Greyson 8-1-47-1, G James 3-0-15-0, S Terry 2-0-10-0.