A MIXED bag of fixtures restarted the season at the Gainsborough Indoor Centre last Sunday.In the first game, Hadleigh invited Melton to bat only to find Ady Smith (25 no) in fine form, dominating an opening stand of 39 at which point Smith retired.

A MIXED bag of fixtures restarted the season at the Gainsborough Indoor Centre last Sunday.

In the first game, Hadleigh invited Melton to bat only to find Ady Smith (25 no) in fine form, dominating an opening stand of 39 at which point Smith retired. His opening partner, Mick Utting (six), fell eight runs later and two wickets fell at 60 leaving Alex Reed (22 no) to bat through to the end at 80 for three wickets.

Despite taking few risks through running sharp singles, Hadleigh, in the shape of 'Floss' Tampion (21), Ian Piddington (17) and David Bird (12) gradually crept closer to their target. Andy Smith bowled the fateful 12th over that yielded 12 runs, but most crucially, contained two wickets, one of which turned out to be the difference between the two sides.

BT/Waldringfield B won the toss and batted against Nacton. Zuber Palekar (33no) retired at 58 but returned just before the end to push the final score to 88 for four thanks to 24 in extras conceded.

John Bafico, with 18, and 20 in extras were not enough for Nacton to meet their target, especially as no batsman managed to reach double figures in the face of the Rohit Chowdhary onslaught that netted him four wickets for 11 runs in 15 balls leaving clear winners by 27 runs.

Game three of the day saw Ipswich B take on Nacton in Division Two action. Paul Mobbs (17) and David Adams (18) added 47 for the first wicket.

After Adams departed the scene 15 runs later, nines and 10s from the lower order batsmen proved to be insufficient to mount a big score before the close.

Three wickets from John Bafico for 24 runs turned the screw on the lower order in the later stages and the innings subsided to 84 for five wickets.

Nacton could not have had a worse start to their reply with two wickets down after just two overs; John Bafico (23) and Dave Hogarty (25) added 58 for the third wicket but after Hogarty retired at 74, the innings subsided to 82 all out with Roger Ingham bowling a tight final over to snatch victory by two runs with two runs to spare.

The fourth game of the day counted for League points and as a ticket into round two.

Ipswich B decided to bat first again with Paul Mobbs (25) and David Adams (16) proving to be early stumbling blocks for the Woodbridge attack.

Forty seven were added for the first wicket when Adams became the first of four run outs, the second of which accounted for Mobbs. Apart from a flurry from Rob Southall (15 no), the innings drew to a quiet close at 88 for four.

Paul McCart, dismissed in the second over for only two, was merely another spectator as Mark Parker (22 no) and Andy Linford (28 no) added all bar one of the number required for victory with five balls left.

Results round-up

Division Two: Ipswich B 84 for 5 (Adams 18, Mobbs 17) Nacton 82 (Hoggard 20, Bafico 15 no). Ipswich (7 pts) bt Nacton (2) by two runs.

Ipswich B 88 for 4 (Adams 16, Mobbs 25) Woodbridge/OW's 89 for 1 (Linford 28 no, Parker 22 no). Ipswich B (1) lost to Woodbridge/OW's (6) by five wickets.

Knockout Trophy

Round One: Melton St Audrys 80 for 3 (Ady Smith 25 no, Reed 22 no, Gladwell 3 for 12) Hadleigh B 80 for 4 wkts (S Tampion 21, Piddington 17, Bird 12). Melton St Audry's bt Hadleigh B by virtue of losing fewer wickets.

BT/Waldringfield B 88 for 4 (Palekar 33 no) Nacton 61 (Bafico 11, Chowdhary 4 for 22). BT/Waldringfield B bt Nacton by 27 runs.

Ipswich B 88 for 4 (Adams 16, Mobbs 25) Woodbridge/OW's 89 for 1 (Linford 28 no, Parker 22 no) Ipswich B lost to Woodbridge/OW's (6) by 5 wkts.

Revised Round Two: (to be played on March 9, 2008) Woodbridge/OW's v BT/Waldringfield A, BT/Waldringfield B v Ipswich A, St Margarets v Hadleigh A, Melton St Audrys v Mistley.

Tomorrow's Fixtures

Division One: 10 am Hadleigh A v Mistley Kesgrave, 11 am Achilles v BT/Waldringfield A, Noon Felixstowe v BT/Waldringfield A, 1 pm Ipswich A v Felixstowe.

Umpires: Don Quennell and Barry Toombs.