Bushey clinch win over rivals Met Police Bushey

After being put in, Bushey batted their allotted 50 overs, posting 258 for five.

Captain Nomaan Ilyas led from the front with a steady 72, supported by Chandan Sharma (30). Bushey then lost three wickets after a good spell of bowling from Simon Hamilton and Gareth Thomson.

However, superb stroke play from Zulfy Muhuseen quickly built up momentum again, with the number five ending his innings on 92 off 63 balls.

In reply, Met Police lost wickets early in their innings and then at regular intervals which hampered their run chase. Met’s Karan Joshi posted a determined 107 not out but his efforts were in vain as the home side were all out for 175 (48 overs).

Bushey’s bowlers shared the wickets, with the pick of the attack being Israr Hussain (three for 30) and Qamar Shahzad (three for 45).

Scott Newman’s third ton of the season helped Abbots Langley claim an early scalp after beating league-leaders Eversholt by eight wickets to move joint third.

The early part of the game was played in damp conditions making the ball difficult to grip and a big score looked likely until Matt Dunstone was introduced.

His slow left arm returned five for 19 and in doing so, saw him surpass 600 first-team wickets for Abbots – becoming just the ninth player to reach the milestone – and clearing the visitors out for 180.

In reply, Abbots openers Newman (107) and Chris Chellew (59) set their side well on the way, putting on 161 for the first wicket before Jack Read (13 not out) and Matthew Parkins (0 not out) finished the job off.

The bowling of Charlie Hoskins gave Hemel Hempstead Seconds a lifeline at home to Potton Town but they ultimately went down by two wickets.

Hemel were well off the pace with the bat – Nick Hodgins’ 45 the only score of note – and were quickly dismissed for a disappointing 109.

But Hoskins took three for 31 as Hemel sought to defend their lead and gave his side a genuine chance of pulling off an unlikely win before Potton reached 110 with two wickets in hand.

Rickmansworth’s poor start to the season to the Division Four A season continued with an eight-wicket defeat to Cheshunt.

Batting first on a damp and slow wicket, the Ricky team were skittled for just 111 in 39 overs. Marc Robinson finished up as the top scorer with 27. Cheshunt then laboured to the winning total in 26 overs with Robinson taking one of only two wickets to fall.

Northwood Town slumped to a third consecutive defeat after losing by 50 runs against Chorleywood Seconds.

Chorleywood won the toss and decided to bat on a decent track, getting off to a positive start with a 73-run opening partnership.

Michael Lister (four for 53) made in-roads with four wickets in his initial spell to drag Town back into the game, and a tight spell from Mikhil Patel (one for 18) at the other end kept the pressure on Chorleywood and left them 114 for five after 30 overs.

Chorleywood then kicked on with skipper Jeremy Hinds hitting a superb unbeaten 94, being well supported by the tail as Town’s usually reliable bowling went a touch wayward.

An imposing target of 249 was set but Town went about the chase in positive fashion, with Akshay Loomba (30) and Mikhil Patel (25) playing in composed fashion against a fiery onslaught from Chorleywood’s quick bowlers.

Raj Kotecha (36) and Andy Burt (39) kept up the good work with some gritty and determined batting and after 30 overs Town were bang on target at 144 for four.

However, Town’s lower order couldn’t produce the goods in quite the same way as Chorleywood’s tail managed and ultimately Northwood were bowled out for 198.

It was another frustrating defeat for the side but there were some positive signs to take into this weekend’s home game with Cheshunt.

Watford Town Seconds picked up a comprehensive 110-run victory over West Herts Seconds in Division Five A with Sparsh Jain’s three for nine the highlight of a routine win.

West Herts won the toss and elected to bowl first in very cloudy conditions. Town managed 233 all out in 47 overs with contributions from most of the batsmen, including Muhammad Syed (42), Zeeshan Ali (31) and Charlie Hardwick (30).

Chasing down the hosts’ total, West Herts attempted to take the game to Town but regularly lost wickets chasing a big target and were removed for 123.

Jain took three for nine, Chirantan Hazarika snared two for 30 runs and Gunjan Hazarika finished with two for 33 as Watford removed their visitors for 123.

Suran Perera took three for 12 to guide Hemel Hempstead Thirds to a 60-run win over Hatfield and Crusaders.

Hemel were far from their best with the bat but key knocks from Ram Hussain (34) and Andy Turbutt (20) set the visitors on their way to 139 for eight.

Perera (three for 12) then took over and along with Anjam Khan (three for 22), ripped through the home side’s attack to clean Hatfield out for just 79.

Kings Langley Seconds made it three consecutive wins after a dominant 212-run victory in Division Six A over Hatfield & Crusaders Seconds.

Having been asked to bat, a quickfire 86 from Kev Rolfe, backed up by 41 from Matt Langston and supporting knocks from Jon Smith (27 not out), Tom Clark (25) and Tim Piper (23), resulted in Kings posting 262 for eight.

The Crusaders were never in the game and were dismissed for 50 in just 16 overs. Captain Clark was the pick of the bowlers, taking five for 26. He was supported by debutant Luke Jones, who snared three wickets for 20, and Josh Oldham (one for two).

In Division Six B, Abbots Langley Seconds’ winning start to the season evaporated thanks to a dismal batting performance against the seaming ball, losing by seven wickets at home to 

Eversholt Seconds.

Mark Bishop top-scored for Abbots with an unbeaten 38 but a score of 126 all out was unlikely to ever pose much of a challenge for Eversholt.

However, Abbots’ bowling display was far better than their batting and they made life hard for the visitors.

George Agius and Lewis Hodgins were both impressive with the ball but eventually the away side were able to run out worthy winners by seven wickets, reaching 130 for three.