A hot weekend around the country saw both teams in some scorching form to make it an unbeaten week for the club.

The Over 40s dispatched Happisburgh in slightly colder conditions midweek, Clive Dunn (30 no) and the lesser-spotted Andy Matley (24) impressing with the bat, with Jonny Bundock (3-11) and Ali Cubitt (2-4) delivering with the ball.

There was a nailbiter at Salle, with the Second XI winning by just two runs. Batting first, they were all out for 185 – Paul Harwood with 62 and skipper Gary Hinchliffe with a brisk 52 from 43 balls to set a challenging total.

A tight start from RSCC’s oldest-ever opening bowling pair – Mark “Big Red” Lester (2-36 from 10 overs) and skipper Gary (1-16 from eight overs), with a barely believable 120 years of experience between them, really showed the youngsters how it was done.

Regular wickets continued to fall to leave Fakenham 138-8, Ben Lee with 3-28, but a solid ninth wicket stand meant the visitors needed just 12 runs to win with one wicket remaining. The miserly Jo Kerkham (1-5) kept things tight and snared the last wicket to secure a memorable victory in an entertaining game.

The First XI made the short trip to Dereham, missing only 409 runs in the batting line-up from the previous week. Luckily, the bowling attack was still in fine fettle, reducing Dereham to 10-3 and eventually 113 all out after some stubborn resistance from the hosts. James Hardy stole the headlines with 4-29, but contributions from captain Raj Chaudhary (3-19) and George Wright (2-25) were equally invaluable.

In reply, the Dereham opening bowlers were excellent first up to leave RSCC 42-2 from 17 overs. Runs started to flow thereafter though with Liam Riseborough (26), Will Allen (25) and Harry Brown (21) making important contributions to get us over the line six wickets down to maintain our unbeaten record.

Toby Armiger