Premier Division

West Herts became the sole leaders of the Premier Division thanks to a narrow victory at Bishop’s Stortford.

The Stags had to bide their time following an inauspicious start as they were made to wait until the fifth over to get off the mark.

Stortford’s 63-year-old veteran Tim Smith was the pick of the bowlers, notching up six successive maidens, to finish with figures of 3-46.

West Herts were made to toil and had opener Alastair Lewis’s 70 to thank for posting a competitive total. Lewis was ably supported by Sohail Syed’s 34 as they staggered to 181-9.

In reply, opener Eddie Ballard crashed a series of early boundaries, but that momentum was stopped by Dan Woosley, who claimed three Stortford scalps in as many overs to leave the hosts hanging precariously at 38-3.

An impressive 75-run stand between captain Dominic Chatfield and Tom Bonham rebuilt the innings only for the former to be caught by Daniel Vaughan off the bowling of William Jones for 38.

Stortford then reached their 150 with Bonham passing his half-century in the process. But when he fell for 62, a regular flurry of wickets ended their hopes of inflicting a first defeat of the season on the table toppers.

Jaahid Ali starred for the visitors to finish with excellent figures of 5-14 as West Herts skittled Stortford out for 167, claiming their fourth victory of the season by 14 runs.

Radlett are no longer tied at the top after they crashed to their first defeat of the season at the hands of Welwyn Garden City, a result that sees them slip to fourth.

Hosts Welwyn, who list former Middlesex and England batsman Owais Shah among their ranks, put Radlett in the field.

The Cobden Hill side started brightly with the ball and the desired early breakthrough arrived when Darren James clean bowled Alex Chalker for six.

That early optimism would prove unfounded, however, as Welwyn put together a series of strong partnerships to frustrate the bowling attack.

Louis Champion (31) was next to go off the bowling of Joe Cooke, while Shah added 38 before falling to star man Kabir Toor, who would end with impressive figures of 5-54.

Wicket-keeper Daniel Blacktopp was the architect for Welwyn, plundering 70 as the hosts breezed past 200, only to depart leg before wicket to Anthony Hill as their innings came to a close at 242 all out.

In reply, Radlett made a steady start, although they would soon find themselves one down as Connor Emerton claimed the first of five scalps with the dismissal of Fraser Crawford for 20.

They recovered well, however, as Tom Jenkins reached 41 and new batsman Toor added 18 before departing at the hands of Emerton and Matthew Grant respectively, tipping the balance in the hosts’ favour.

And from that point onward, Radlett could not arrest the slide as Emerton and Grant tore through the batting card with devastating ease.

Grant brought up his five-fer with the wicket of Abdulrahim Mulla for a duck as Radlett were dismissed for just 134 in 31 overs and were consigned to a comprehensive 108-run defeat that aw Welwyn leapfrog them into third in the table.

Championship

A hat-trick, six wickets and a century made it a day to remember for Australian all-rounder Sol Tomlinson as his Leverstock Green side chased down 308 at Hoddesdon to go second in the Championship.

Fellow centurion Charlie Mahanama top-scored with 107 to outdo Tomlinson’s chanceless 103 as the pair added 181 for Green’s third wicket in pursuit of their hosts’ giant 60-over target.

Earlier in the afternoon, Tomlinson’s measured left-arm spin accounted for six Hoddesdon wickets - including a hat-trick, rounded off with a simple bat-pad catch taken by Lewis Koch at short square leg.

Nick Merrett’s unbeaten 41 helped guide Levy to a fourth win in six second-tier fixtures and leaves them well placed for a competitive first season in the second tier.

Hemel Hempstead Town fell to a narrow two-wicket defeat to league leaders Dunstable, a result that preserved the Bedfordshire side’s unbeaten start and strengthened their grip at the top.

There was a distinct paucity of strong batting on display for the hosts with only four Hemel batsmen reaching double figures on their way to 211 all out.

The innings was constructed thanks to opener Hemish Ilangaratne’s patient 71 alongside a superb 70 from Brett Penny.

The latter’s explosive knock was cut short by the bowling of Sam Cherry, one of three wickets he claimed on the way to figures of 3-49.

Yet it was Adam Lewis’s 4-56 that decimated Hemel’s middle order as the hosts were made to pay for an inability to develop partnerships down the order.

In response, Penny (2-14) and Shidhu Kanade (2-27) then combined to leave the visitors 19-3, before a salvage act from Cherry and Mark Smith (31) steered the Dunstable innings back on track.

And despite regular wickets that at one stage left the game in Hemel’s favour at 123-6, Cherry’s 75, combined with Sam Marshall’s 39, saw Dunstable squeeze home by two wickets with seven overs to spare.

Division Two A

Abbots Langley were consigned to a four-wicket defeat on the road at Totteridge Millhillians Seconds, with the hosts wrapping up a relatively comfortable victory with nine overs to spare.

Langley won the toss and batted first only to lose opener Barry Warner leg before wicket for four. Jack Read then smashed four fours on his way to a rapid 17 before being caught in the deep to leave the visitors 47-2.

The flow of wickets continued as captain Michael Burgess watched opener David Cleary depart at the other end for 23, trapped leg before wicket.

At 51-3, Langley were given a welcome respite in the form of a partnership of 35 between Burgess and Matt Parkins, before the latter succumbed off the bowling of Riz Siddiqui.

It was Siddiqui who was the catalyst for the collapse, taking a further three wickets for just 22 runs, later completing his five-fer with the dismissal of Parkins for 56. Abbots would trudge to a total of just 181 all out.

With a small total to defend, the visitors knew disciplined bowling was essential if they harboured any hopes of claiming victory and two early wickets gave Abbots early momentum.

The subsequent partnership of 64 between Tom Smith and Hilton Nathanson restored order, before Smith was caught in the outfield one short of his half-century to leave Totteridge 132-4.

With just a further 50 runs required, Millhillians looked set for victory. Indeed, Aleem Hussain took matters into his own hands with a blistering knock of 36, to take his side to the brink of their eventual four-wicket win.

Division Four B

West Herts Seconds continued their winning sequence with a 107-run victory at home to Flamstead.

The hosts won the toss and elected to bat first with the Stags racing to 123 without loss, thanks to openers Vinesh Gorasia’s run-a-ball 70 and Duncan Kendal’s fine 68.

However, Gorasia was soon caught by David Rogers off the bowling of Jack Ridley, and only a strong knock of 46 from Richard Mason kept the scorecard ticking over.

Late support from Mason Denning (23 not out) and Raoul Harding (19) helped West Herts to 259-7 from their 50 overs.

In reply, both of West Herts’s opening bowlers struck to leave Flamstead 42-2, as Harding and Lachlan McLean dismissed openers Edward Greenwood and Martin Lindley respectively.

It was the spin duo of Adeesh Kapoor and Ali Shah that did the damage, however, picking up eight wickets between them to end any hopes of Flamstead launching a credible reply.

Kapoor’s 6-38 tore through the visitors’ line-up, and included the key scalp of Rob O’Dell for 30, while Shah claimed the breakthrough of Rogers for 35, as Flamstead capitulated to 152 all out.

Division Nine B

Not even a share of the wickets was enough as Hemel Hempstead Town Fourths were decisively beaten by 134 runs at the hands of Old Minchendenians.

Hemel won the toss and fielded first, but the visitors were on the back foot from the get-go as opener Sree Pillai plundered an impressive 125, a knock that included 19 boundaries.

Pillai was backed up by Shah Khan (34) and Hemmanth Tummala (22), with the pick of Town’s bowlers being Ross Chapman, who registered 3-44.

Two wickets apiece for Martin Botha (2-43) and Nic Benson (2-56) did manage to halt the charge, but the hosts finished on 268 all out - a score Hemel never looked like chasing down.

They quickly found themselves four down, before middle-order resistance temporarily arrived in the form of 27 from Chapman and contributions from Daniel Turbutt (24) and Benson (18).

However 3-16 from Ajay Narisetti inflicted irreparable damage, with Hemel collapsing to 134 all out.