George and Lynn star for Walsham

Ben George and Barry Lynn were the stars of the show as Walsham-le-Willows (131-2) recorded a much-needed eight-wicket win over Tuddenham(130) on Saturday.

Hosting Walsham had struggled for form going into the contest, which in turn had seen them slip down the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship Division Three table following a bright start.

However, they arrested the slide against the bottom-placed visitors, thanks largely to seven wickets from George and Lynn’s knock of 80.

Tuddenham batted first and their top order did relatively well as Richard Cross (30), David Ward (29) and David Cross (36no) all made useful contributions.

However, having already dismissed Cross, George proceeded to rip through the Tuddenham batsmen.

In total he bowled 15 overs, recording figures of 7-36, which included three maidens.

Mark Rothon bowled the same amount of overs as his team-mate and took the other three wickets that fell for the expense of 38 runs.

In reply, Walsham lost opener Stephen Owston (15) relatively cheaply, but Lynn was having no such problems scoring runs.

He struck seven fours and six maximums on his way to scoring 80, when he was caught and bowled by Tuddenham’s James Shimmens.

That left Oli Jackson (24no) and Ashley Forbes (5no) to get their side over the line in just 24.5 overs.

The result has moved Walsham into sixth spot in the Division Three standings with a return of 144 points from their 12 fixtures.

However, they have a tough assignment on their hands to continue the good feeling tomorrow when they play host to league-leading Kesgrave (1pm).

It appears Kesgrave are locked in two-way battle for the title, with only two points separating them from second-placed Abberton & District heading into this weekend’s round of matches.

Walsham’s encounter at Kesgrave on the opening day of the campaign was cancelled due to the rainy conditions.