Herts Cricket League

Championship

Langleybury remain rooted to the bottom of the table after they suffered another defeat on Saturday, this time at the hands of Hertford.

The visitors won the toss and on a miserable damp day, put Bury in to bat.

With contributions from Richard Soulsby (16) and Mohammed Manzoor (12), Langleybury struggled to their lowest score of the season of 56 all out in 35.3 overs.

Four wickets from opening bowler Sri Kumar from his 16 overs was the stand out figures for the innings.

Hertford came out to bat needing their 57 runs from 62 overs, so they didn’t need to quickly chase down the runs, but they did.

With three sixes and seven fours, Hertford knocked off the runs in 6.5 overs. Opener S Gayle (26 not out) and number three C Cavener (19 not out) saw the visitors romp home to victory.

Premier Division

Hemel Hempstead had to settle for a draw in their rain-affected match against Letchworth Garden City.

Due to the weather, Hemel were given 43 overs to post a strong total and thanks in part to Brett Penny (69) and Hem Ilangaratne (58) they went on to score 219 for six.

The Letchworth reply was steady but debutant Faisal Iqbal impressed with the ball for Hemel as he claimed five for 51.

City crept along but didn’t score the runs they needed to win the match. They ended on 167 for seven to earn a share of the points.

Division One

Kings Langley are still searching for their first league win after being held to another draw, this time by Botany Bay.

Kings scored a modest 201 all out with good contributions from Tom Sambrook (39), Mark Brazier (36), Duncan Fleming (28) and Ricky Mohamed (27).

In reply, Bay were reduced to nine for two but their opener, H Blackwell, scored 79 before being run out.

They lost three quick wickets and were content to play out for a draw and finished on 170 for seven.

Matt Wells claimed three for 36 and there was a wicket each for Brazier, Mohamed and Andrew Burnell.

Division Two

Watford Town were unable to claim the final wicket they needed for victory against Old Albanians and had to settle for a draw.

Watford batted first and were quickly in trouble on 25 for three. However, Gulfraz Riaz (55) and Mohammed Abid (29) put together a solid partnership and 25 from Mobeen Ahmad got the home side to 160.

It wasn’t an insurmountable total but the Watford bowlers performed excellently. Abid took four for 27 while Ahmad claimed two for 30. There was also a wicket apiece for Ravi Panchal and Gufraan Butt but OAs were able to hold on and end on 115 for nine.

Leverstock Green moved 18 points clear at the top of the table after defeating second-placed St Margaretsbury by three wickets.

Bury’s 158 for six from their 40 overs could have been significantly more had it not been for an excellent marathon spell of pace bowling by Green left-arm seamer Sam Mazurek, who took three for 51 from 16 unchanged overs.

Levy opener Lewis Koch, in fine touch right now, kicked off the run chase with a key anchor innings of 46.

Number three David Coulshed batted intelligently for his 43 to leave Green wickets in hand as the overs ticked down.

Big hitting by Kris Jadeja (28) meant Green needed 13 to win from the final over – runs which Abbas Ali and Mazurek, with a boundary and two from the game’s penultimate ball, managed to knock off.

Hemel Hempstead Seconds were beaten by four wickets against Welwyn Garden City Seconds.

Hemel lost the toss and were inserted. After a solid start from openers Suren Perera (27) and Graham Clark (28), Hemel began to falter.

They looked in trouble at 92 for six but Matt Petchell (40) and Duncan Howard (30) helped steady the innings but Hemel could only muster a modest total of 162 for nine.

The Welwyn reply started strongly and 101 was put on for the first wicket. That effectively ended the contest and despite the best efforts of Matt Dale (four for 31), City chased down the runs with time to spare.