Division Five A

In a total contrast in fortunes to the first team, West Herts Seconds strengthened their position at the top the league with a two-wicket home win over Hitchin Seconds.

Fielding first after winning the toss, West Herts made an early breakthrough by removing Daryl Collins (5) with 24 runs on the board.

But Hitchin refused to be knocked off course by that dismissal and the union of Tim Porter (49) and Jonny Gray (52) ensured they reached 177 before being removed.

That total looked on the light side and it was largely thanks to Vinesh Gorasia (five for 38), who snared five wickets.

An inauspicious start saw Ahmed Rahim (2) and Romario Ranabahu (5) dismissed early and two of their top order down, West Herts soon found themselves on 19 for two.

But they rallied and a knock of 54 not out by Martin Richardson helped nudge the home side towards a winning total of 178 for eight.

A severely depleted Hemel Hempstead Town Thirds crashed to a 121-run defeat at Preston.

With few bowlers in the side Preston were able to see themselves up to 210 for nine after winning the toss, though Dave Jenkins (two for 25) and Hasan Ashraf (two for 39) still posted decent returns.

But if the bowling unit was shy on numbers the batting line-up was even worse for wear and only 33 from Ram Hussain and 21 from Tariq Hussain were worth shouting about as Hemel folded to a dire 89 all out.

Division Five B

Chipperfield Clarendon Seconds ended their four-match losing run with a six-wicket victory over Cockfosters Seconds.

Batting first, Cockfosters were restricted to 168 for eight.

Four for 28 from Shawn Mepham set the tone for a fine victory and he was backed up by wickets from Graham Gurney and some good catching.

Chipperfield chased down the total for the loss of four wickets in 37.4 overs.

Dave Bunning hit an impressive 67 and was backed up by 41 from Cameron Samson in an opening partnership of 103 to secure only their side’s fourth league victory of the campaign.

Division Six A

A frustrating performance left Kings Langley Seconds to rue missed opportunities after their draw with Redbourn Seconds at the Common.

Having reduced Redbourn to 50 for five and then 110 for six, Kings were hoping to quickly chase down a relatively low score. However, some poor fielding and dropped catches saw Redbourn recover to post 226 for seven at the end of their innings.

After a ferocious start from the Kings’ openers the chase was looking on. When Tony Morton fell for a rapid-fire 40, the runs dried up and Redbourn became favourites to win again.

An outstanding innings from Kevin Rolfe (84 not out) took the side close to the win but with wickets falling around him, they fell agonisingly five runs short of the target and had to settle for a disappointing draw.

Division Six B

Abbots Langley Seconds earned a vital win in their battle to stay up after a six-wicket victory over St Margaretsbury Seconds.

Teenager Lewis Hodgins, 15, showed all his potential in this game with both bat and ball, claiming six for 40 as the opposition were dismissed for 148.

Hodgins then opened the batting and smashed an excellent 62 which effectively won the contest ably supported by veteran Dave Carlisle, who made an unbeaten 29 in their winning score of 151 for four.

Division Eight A

Northwood Town Seconds slumped to a five-wicket defeat to Reed Thirds.

Having been sent into bat, Northwood produced a disappointing performance as they were dismissed for 91 in 29.5 overs.

After Sumeet Khetia departed to another grubber, the top order was gone and Town were reeling on 50 for six. Some spirited counter-attacking from Palan and Nic Patel was tempered by another collapse with three wickets falling on 74.

A last-wicket stand of 17 from Jack Daly and Shameer Syed took Town up to a paltry 91.

In response, the opening partnership of 68 all but killed off the game. The part time spin of Khetia eventually drew an error and with Sajid Malik and Syed bagging a pair each, the notoriously shaky lower order of Reed began to wobble before they clinched the win with five wickets to spare.

Division Eight B

Hemel Hempstead Town Fourths were beaten by two wickets against Letchworth Garden City Fourths with Steve Smith’s unbeaten 97 not enough to inspire victory.

Smith, batting at two, was three runs short of his first ton in several years when the home side finally ran out of time. Hemel, having won the toss, posted 198 for six with Tony Linfoot (30 not out) the next highest run scorer for the home side.

Ross Chapman’s five wickets looked to have given Hemel a real chance of securing the points but Letchworth dug in and the tail laid on the runs necessary to hit the winning total of 199 for eight.