A MARAUDING bowling display from Little Downham earned them a sizeable 76-run victory over Soham on Saturday.

With only 135 runs to chase, Soham needed little more than three-runs-per-over to seal the win but didn’t reckon with the might of Downham’s bowling attack, which clattered its way through the visitors line-up to rescue the win for the home side.

The points moved Downham up into second place in the league with three wins in four matches, while Soham continued to languish in the drop zone with only a solitary victory to their name.

It was the home side who opted to open the batting on a largely overcast day and the decision quickly proved a lamentable one as openers Peter Baker (11) and Nigel King (0) fell cheaply, both at the hands of Andrew French (2-24) who opened the bowling for the visitors.

Phil Cornwell (21) made a decent start at number four for Downham but couldn’t push on towards a big score and the home side were in dire straits at 59-5 shortly after his dismissal.

Some excellent bowling from Adam Lambert (2-23) and James Merry (2-21) kept Soham on the front foot until the arrival of tail-enders James White and Tim Connolly, who smashed 20 and 22 respectively to haul the home side from 85-7 through to 135-9 at the close of the innings. A bumper total of 39 extras also provided a welcome boost to the Downham score.

Though Soham lost an early wicket, their top order worked hard to grind out the runs under pressure from the Downham attack.

L Fuller (14) and Merry (16) made solid enough starts but the innings quickly began to unravel at 49-5 as Downhma’s White began to gather momentum with the ball.

He capitalised on Soham’s exposed middle-order and took 6-33 in a blistering spell. At 59-8 the inevitable was only a matter of deliveries away and Ryan Duffield (2-13) turned an arm at the end to wrap up the innings without another run being added.