CROMER made the long trip to Downham to take on the league leaders.After a disappointing display with the bat Cromer did superbly with the ball and in the field.

CROMER made the long trip to Downham to take on the league leaders.

After a disappointing display with the bat Cromer did superbly with the ball and in the field.

They showed belief that they could get something from the game, and although they only picked four points they can go into Saturday's return fixture with great confidence. There is no reason why they can't inflict the first league defeat of the season on Downham.

Tom Davies won the toss and decided to bat first. The visitors made a bad start, with both Davies and Clarke going with just five on the board.

Turner and Brown brought some stability with a brief stand of 32. Runs were difficult to come by and wickets were falling regularly. After 25 overs Cromer were 63-4.

The Downham bowlers were on top, continuing to take wickets and they quickly got through the Cromer tail end.

They were all out in the 41st over for 122. Extras (38) were the main contributor to the score, with David Turner the top-scoring batsman with 24. Todd, Tulett and Barnard all took three wickets a piece.

The Downham reply was by no means as straightforward as they would have hoped.

Cromer took two early wickets, including that of New Zealander Murdoch for a duck.

But the partnership of Tulett and Yates pushed Downham towards their victory total.

But when their stand was broken after they had put on 78 the Downham middle order collapsed from 87-3 to 89-6. Suddenly there was a chance of Cromer pulling off a surprise victory.

But Lanchester and Todd moved the hosts within touching distance of victory, and although they did lose two more wickets the reigning champions reached their target with two wickets in hand.

Colin Brown finished with excellent figures of 3-8 from seven overs while James Craske and Kristian Regis both got two wickets each.