Cromer recorded a long overdue third win of the season in the Premier Division of the Norfolk Alliance on Saturday to move out of the bottom two at Stow's expense.

They dismissed North Runcton for 131 at the Norton Warnes Ground after Matthew Warnes (66) and Malcolm Cloete (51) had guided them to an all out total of 188. Anthony Robinson was the star man with the ball for Cromer, taking five for 45, while earlier in the day Mahesh Liyanage took four for 21 for Runcton.

The 23-point haul took Cromer 14 points ahead of Stow, who failed to pick up a solitary point in their defeat against Downham, and to within reach of Diss, Fakenham and Runcton above them.

They play Stow away on Saturday and know they must keep up the good work in that one to avoid being dragged back into the bottom two.

Meanwhile Bradfield turned in a brave performance against Swardeston A in their latest Alliance Division One fixture – but still slipped to a 54-run run defeat.

After winning the toss and deciding to bowl first the hosts did well to restrict Swardeston to 218 for eight in 50 overs but sadly the target proved to be beyond them and they were dismissed for 164.

Bradfield picked up five points for their efforts to move 18 clear of bottom side Dereham, who again lost heavily. The two sides meet at Dereham on Saturday in a match that could well decide which team finishes bottom this season.

Swardeston's total was built on a fine first-wicket partnership of 66 between Daniel Martin (28) and Alex Bilham (34). Once they had departed Lewis Denmark kept up the good work with a hard-hitting 53, but Bradfield's bowlers did well to keep the scoring in check, with Nick Hewetson returning the figures of four for 79 and Jeremy Wright weighing in with two wickets.

In reply opener Chris Scannell top scored with 35 while Michael Reynolds (25) and David Yarham (24) also made decent contributions but having reached 70 for two wickets started falling at regular intervals and they were dismissed in 36.5 overs as Swardeston ran out comfortable winners.

Cromer A moved off the bottom of Division Five thanks to a hard-fought victory over fellow srtugglers Thetford A. After dismissing Thetford for 139, with Harry Wynn taking four for 35, Cromer got home with two wickets to spare.

They will be aiming to build on the win on Saturday when they take on Brooke A at the Norton Warnes Ground.

Bradfield A lost their bottom-of-the-table Division Six match with Dereham A. They made 193 for eight and saw Dereham overhaul the total for the loss of seven wickets. Bradfield A entertain Saxlingham A on Saturday.