Old Buckenham start life in the Norfolk Cricket Alliance Division One with home win over Horsford II
Charlie Tunstall made a good impression on debut as Old Buckenham (221) started life in the Norfolk Cricket Alliance Division One with a commanding 133-run home win over Horsford II (88) on Saturday.
Tunstall joined Old Buckenham during the off-season following a successful stint with Worlington, whom he helped to win the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship Division One title and reach the quarter-finals of the National Village Cup last term.
And he showed quality in his first competitive outing for Old Buckenham, scoring a useful 24 runs with the bat before going on to snare four wickets with his pace bowling.
The home side’s Matt Bint, who represented Norfolk last term, made a patient 65 at the top order from 110 deliveries, yet for a while significant partnerships were hard to come by as Ben Shearing (0), Ben Smart (10) and Thomas Bart (4) all departed cheaply to leave Old Buckenham on 45-3.
However, the returning James Heaney then came to the crease and proved to be the perfect foil for Bint, scoring 37 runs before his wicket fell to the bowling of Ollie Mowles to leave Old Buckenham on a more stable 136-4.
Tunstall’s contribution was accompanied by knocks of 15 and 13 from Jack Grant and Robert Goodwin respectively, while Old Buckenham also benefited from an extras column that stood at 44.
Tunstall then set about his work with the ball in hand, removing openers Alex Lincoln (1) and Matthew Spenceley (8) in quick succession to set the tone.
Chris Howes (3-14) and Jack Grant (2-12) followed suit before Tunstall returned to take out two of the tail and help wrap up a comfortable victory for the side that were relegated from the Premier Division last season.
A trip to Swardeston II awaits Old Buckenham tomorrow.
* Garboldisham’s (160) Norfolk Cricket Alliance Premier Division 2019 campaign started with a six-wicket defeat at home against Stow (161-4).
Batting first, number four Johnny Leech top-scored for the hosts with 40, while opener James Spelman – formerly of Norfolk – added 26 on debut.
Lower down the order Kieran Pask weighed in with a swift 27 which included three fours and two sixes.
Yet it ended up being a victory target that Stow reached with relative ease, thanks in part to a score of 65 from their opener William Denny.
Philip King (2-30) bowled well for Garboldisham, but the visitors got over the line with 34.2 overs completed.
Garboldisham travel to Norwich, who had their game at Brooke last weekend abandoned because of the wet weather, tomorrow (1pm).
