Garby beat rivals Old Bucks

Saturday’s crucial derby clash went the way of hosting Garboldisham (179-9), who recorded a four-wicket win at the expense of Old Buckenham (174).

The win has put some breathing space between Garboldisham and the relegation zone, while Old Buckenham remain rooted to the foot of the Norfolk Cricket Alliance Premier Division with three matches left to play in 2018.

Opening the batting, Old Bucks’ James Alexander (19) and Ben Shearing (36) got their side off to a positive start and were 65-0 down at drinks.

However, the break came at a good time for Garboldisham as they looked to change their bowling with the introduction of Luke Rackham.

He removed Shearing in his first over via a glove down the leg side and then again when he removed Matt Bint for a third-ball duck.

All of a sudden Old Buckenham had gone from 71-0 to 71-3 and it soon became 75-4 when vice-captain Rob Thurley (4) guided a catch into the hands of Garboldisham skipper Danny Cash in the slips.

James Heaney looked to accelerate the Old Buckenham innings with a swift 30 from 38 deliveries before he was trapped lbw by Tom Alexander.

The scoring rate never really recovered despite the efforts of German international Amith Sarma (17) and Glen Meredith (19), leaving the home team bowled out for a below-bar score of 174.

To the credit of the Old Buckenham bowlers they took wickets at regular intervals during the run chase, but Garboldisham were always up with the required run rate.

Tom Davey was their main man with the bat throughout the innings, scoring 41 runs as the hosts reached their target in 44 overs.

Garboldisham, who are 31 points clear of the bottom two, travel to Stow tomorrow, while Old Buckenham – 13 points from safety – host second-from-bottom Acle (both 12pm).