Gibbs Denley EAPL: A Tim McIntosh century was not enough to secure victory for Norwich as they were cast further adrift at the bottom of the table.

The New Zealand Test opener completed his two-match stint with Norwich by adding 115no to his half-century the previous weekend – but his side were unable to force victory against Sudbury in a rain-affected match at Postwick.

McIntosh batted throughout the innings after Norwich were put into bat, hitting nine fours and two sixes in his 119-ball innings. Mark Tipping (26) was the only other Norwich player to score significantly as the hosts made 205 for eight from 41 overs.

Aaron Watson struck an early blow in the Sudbury reply, but they advanced steadily to 80 before Chris Borrett removed skipper Darren Batch.

After Kandage Fernando's brisk 42 was ended by Ashley Watson, the match petered out into a stalemate. Erik Laubscher picked up two wickets for Norwich, before Sudbury closed on 161 for six from their 39 overs.

Clacton's victory over Essex rivals Halstead means Norwich are now 35 points from safety with five games left to play.

At the top, there was huge disappointment at Brundall as the potentially title-deciding match between Vauxhall Mallards and Swardeston was abandoned without a ball bowled.

That allowed reigning champions Cambridge Granta to suddenly move into contention as they beat Great Witchingham by two wickets at Clare College.

The Witches were put into bat and their top three made starts but failed to push on, as James Spelman (17), Carl Rogers (35) and Sam Arthurton (41) were all cut off in their prime.

From 86 for two, the innings disintegrated as the lower order were unable to build on that solid platform. Witchingham finished their reduced allocation of 51 overs on 161 for eight, with Lewys Hill picking up three wickets.

That total looked distinctly defendable as Granta crumbled to 31 for five in the face of an explosive opening three-wicket burst from Ryan McCone, while James Spelman followed up with a couple of victims.

With both Park brothers, Craig and Sean, back in the pavilion along with Granta skipper Jason Coleman, the match seemed all but won, before Dougie Rice (46) and Jimmy Handley (60no) revived the hosts with a stand of 60.

Jonathan Spelman removed Rice, but Handley batted on and although McCone bagged his fourth wicket, Granta reached their target with four balls to spare.

Horsford's unbeaten home run came to a sorry end as they were bowled out for 79 by Burwell at Manor Park.

The visitors chose to bowl first and Horsford slipped from 51 for three to lose their last seven wickets for 28 runs. Nathan Perry Warnes top scored with 25, while Luke Caswell (10) and Matthew Wilkinson (10) were the only other players to reach double figures as Tanwir Afzal, Mark Bissett and Adam Huckle claimed three wickets each.

Burwell went calmly about their task and completed victory without losing a wicket in the 25th over, Peter Richer finishing on 52no.

Elsewhere, Clacton's 190-run win came courtesy of a starring performance from Stefanus Gericke, who hit 90 and took five for 12.

Jason Gallian (93no) saw Saffron Walden to a draw at home to Bury St Edmunds, who had half-centuries from Justin Bishop (59) and Scott Harvey (53).