Langley ease past Eastcote (From Watford Observer)

Abbots Langley ease past Eastcote

1:20pm Friday 17th August 2012 in Sport

Chess Valley Sunday League

Division Two

Abbots Langley stormed to another convincing win in the Chess Valley League as they beat Eastcote by eight wickets.

Eastcote were put into bat first, and some good line and length from Abbots contained the score to an attainable 180 for nine. Aiden Byrne was the pick of the bowlers with four-for-27.

Langley set about the chase emphatically with Blesson Ghoghe and Parth Mehta putting on a partnership of 79 for the first wicket.

Poojan Vyas then hit an undefeated 60 runs to help Abbots to their winning total of 184 for two.

Hemel Hempstead kept up their promotion push with a seven-wicket victory over second-placed Ickenham.

The home side started strongly with the bat with the top order looking resilient to what Hemel had to offer. Scott Wilsher posted the best score, as he accumulated 83 before being bowled.

Wickets started to fall and the lower order soon crumbled, with Jack Doodson picking up three for 47 as Ickenham reached 237 for eight.

After an early fall of wickets, Hemel matched the efforts of their opponents, and looked immovable at the crease as Jay O’Nien (104 not out) and Hem Ilangarante (93 not out) guided Hemel to 243 for three to win.

Division Seven

A youthful Hemel Hempstead Seconds were powerless to resist a 129-run defeat against a strong Ickenham Seconds side.

The top order looked strong as G Bensted (67) and S Bensted (54) both scored half-centuries to help Ickenham reach 260 for eight.

Hemel’s batting order showed their inexperience in response as wickets fell cheaply.

Four players did reach double figures – with Mart Oborne (31) top-scoring – but they only mustered 131 all out.

Northwood Town inflicted a six-wicket defeat on fellow promotion hopefuls Preston to move closer to the top two.

Town elected to field and bowled consistently despite not taking many wickets to limit Preston to 200 for six.

In reply, Kunal Sanghai and Ravi Kotecha were the main stars with 81 and 71 respectively as Town comfortably reached 201 for four.

Herts County Trophy Kings Langley are through to this year’s final after defeating Wheathampstead by five wickets.

The latter couldn’t take control with the bat as Kings bowled exceptionally to dismiss them for 148, with Varman Ratnakuranan impressively taking four for 15. Kings openers got them off to a solid start but they needed Tom Sambrook (32 not out) and Paul Ashford (27) to dictate the tempo.

A couple more wickets fell, but Kings rarely looked troubled and comfortably reached the winning total losing just four wickets.

They will now meet County Hall or Met Police (Bushey) in the final.