Diss suffer first defeat of campaign
Diss (191) slipped to their first defeat since returning to the Cecil Amey Opticians Norfolk Cricket Alliance Premier Division on Saturday against an in-form Stow (192-4) side, who triumphed by six wickets.
Home skipper Mark Williamson lost the toss, with Stow opting to field first.
Diss made another fine start through openers Williamson and Chris Cooper, who looked in control early on against the Stow fast bowlers.
Nevertheless, Williamson was bowled by Dan Ward (1-30) for 15 and the visitors had their breakthrough with the score on 36-1.
Diss progressed well after the first wicket through Cooper and David Tooke, who saw off the remainder of the opening bowlers without problems.
The introduction of spinner Otto Esse brought a wicket for Stow, when he bowled David Tooke for 15.
Cooper passed a deserved first half century of the season, but Diss lost Daniel Taylor LBW to Esse (3-27) for 4, leaving the score on 103-3.
Cooper continued to look in fine touch, but one lapse in concentration cost him his wicket, as he was caught off Peter Brassett (1-26) for a well-made 67.
Diss began to struggle against the Stow spinners, with the pitch tending to rag, and scoring proved difficult, with Eli Meenhorst the next to go for four.
Despite those dismissals, Robert Tooke and Lewis Taylor helped to push on the score until the latter was caught for 10, and Sam Hunt soon followed without scoring.
A crucial partnership of 44 between Robert Tooke (48) and Roger Buckenham (10) steered Diss to a competitive total, and although they lost their last three wickets cheaply, they posted a score of 191 on an increasingly difficult looking pitch.
The hosts made a solid start with the ball in hand through openers Daniel Taylor (0-32) and Meenhorst (0-46), but they spurned a chance to dismiss Stow overseas player Dhadwal early on.
Stow progressed without too many problems, and the first wicket eventually came on 56-0, with Cooper bowling Esse for 19.
From then on, the visitors gained a foothold in the game and a 77-run partnership between Dhadwal and Tom High left Diss without much hope of a victory.
Although there were good spells from James Hardy (0-30) and Robert Tooke (0-33), Diss could not make any further inroads until the end of the innings, when Williamson (2-16) bowled Dhadwal (85) and Edward Landymore (7) to gain an additional bowling point.
William Denny (26 no) and Thomas Davey (4 no) finished another excellent run chase for the Stow, as they won inside 43 overs with six wickets in hand and condemned Diss to defeat.
The result means Diss remain fourth on 69 points, with a trip to second-placed Downham Town on the agenda tomorrow (12pm).
l In their first Division 4S home match of the season, Diss B (177) lost to Great Melton C (196-5) by 19 runs.
The experienced pairing of saw Dave Cox (0-27) Colin Atkinson (0-23) opened the bowling for Diss, the latter of whom completed his 10 overs.
However, it was not until the 30th over that the B team made the breakthrough with James Skilleter bowling Richard De Salis for 40.
Soon after he also removed the other opener, Benedict Fletcher (50), to finish with figures of 2-40.
Junior bowlers Ed Gunn and Harry Skilleter, meanewhile, were unable to get a wicket until Edward Gunn ran out Greg Twiddy for 15.
Rick Ferguson gained two late wickets (2-21), removing Sam Johnson (12) and Clive Rennie (7) as Melton finished on 196.
After a slow start and losing Paul Hunt (8) and Ferguson (6) early, Diss were 37-2 after 14 overs.
However, Ed Gunn had other ideas as he took the Melton bowlers on finding the boundary six times, including maximum over cow in a well made 36.
But a massive collapse ultimately cost Diss as they lost six wickets for just 18 runs.
A ninth-wicket partnership of 77 saw Andrew Paine hitting the ball to all parts but he was eventually out to a one handed catch for 47 and when Cox was removed for 10 the game was up.
