Kings Langley miss out on promotion despite ending season with victory

Ampthill won the toss and opted to bat first but the decision backfired as they were dismissed for just 83. Rob Clark was in impressive form with three for 14 while there were two wickets apiece for Dan Donaldson, Christian James and Harry Sambrook.

Kings made short work of the run chase as they won with six wickets in hand after 20.3 overs. Ricky Mohammed opened with 27 and Sambrook was unbeaten on 29.

But Dunstable’s one-wicket win over Knebworth Park meant they pipped Langley to second place by the narrowest of margins.

In Division Two A, the final day of the season saw Leverstock Green beat Old Owens by 75 runs to make certain of the title having already secured promotion the previous week.

And the crown was secured by club legend Dave Tyson, who hit a six over square leg to take Green’s score past 185 – the total needed to earn the six bonus points required to make sure of the divisional gong.

A final Levy target of 219 - thanks in the main to a classy 56 not out from Ajit Kumar and Kris Jadeja’s 48 - proved 75 runs too many for hosts Old Owens.

Majid Khan’s five for 32 took his seasonal league haul of wickets to 33, while seam partner Adam Thomas clocked up 40 dismissals for the campaign with two for 38 to help remove Owens for 144 and seal promotion to Division One for the first time since the 20-team Division Two championship-winning summer of 2008.

Radlett Seconds missed out on promotion despite a three-wicket win over Watford Town as Northwood clinched second place.

The Cobden Hill outfit’s slim hopes of promotion relied on them gaining a win and Northwood losing to Preston. The first task seemed to be in control as Dan Foster won the toss and chose to bowl on a very wet wicket and the Radlett boys took full advantage.

Stan Tinkler (one for 32) and Troy Barrett (three for 14) were superb up front and well supported by Michael Lee (four for 22), who made a welcome return to the wickets column as the opposition were dismissed for just 85.

The chase summed up Radlett this season. Alex Cooke saw off the new ball well until falling for nine. Yasir Murghal also scored nine. Hugh McDowell failed to register in the scorebook and Neel Malde fell for just five.

This left Radlett 39 for four and the nerves started to kick in. Lee upped the rate with the top score of 21 before he lost his wicket. Barrett (1) and Robin Willis (12) pushed Radlett close to victory but It was left to Simeon Cohen (5 not not) and Charlie Nicholls (6 not out) to see Radlett home.

But Northwood claimed an emphatic 178-run victory over Preston to clinch promotion which meant Radlett’s young side had to settle for third place.

Batting first, skipper Daniel Rodgers scored 124 before departing at 276 for one. He was helped along by overseas player Dhaval Panchal who scored 124 as they posted a formidable 314 for six.

Preston were never in at and apart from one player scoring 83 the side were skittled out for 136. Panchal took four for 28 for the promoted side.

In Division Two B, Hemel Hempstead Town Seconds finished third after losing to Harpenden Seconds by 18 runs.

Batting first, Harpenden scored 176 for nine from their innings. Charlie Hoskins returned figures of three for 31 and Rory Fraser picked up two for 23.

In reply, Hemel could not reach the target as they were all out for 158 in 48.3 overs. Bryan Davies opened with 19 before Liam Jahn added 21. Hoskins was unbeaten on 29 and Andy Turbutt matched this score but it was not enough to avoid defeat.

Chorleywood Seconds had to be content with finishing in second place in Division Four A as they fell to a crushing 105-run defeat to champions Berkhamsted in their final game.

Wood looked to be well in the game after bowling Berko out for just 185 in 48.2 overs. There were three wickets apiece for Ray Collins (three for 28) and Paddy Fullerton (three for 53) as well as two for 22 for Steve Dellavedova in his final game for the club as the hosts remained hopeful of overturning Berko’s 16-point pre-game advantage.

But Wood then slumped to just 80 all out in reply as they had no answer to the visitors’ exceptional attack.

Collins continued his good personal display as he top-scored with 23, but with only two other batsmen reaching double figures, Wood fell well short of their target as Berkhamsted secured the title in emphatic style in just the 29th over.

In Division Four B, Leverstock Green Seconds slipped into the relegation places for the first time this season and were relegated after a nine-wicket defeat at home to champions Sandridge.

Their fall from mid-table security was dramatic throughout August. The side recorded just one of its five wins in total after the end of June.

A familiar tale – not enough runs – ensued at The Green on Saturday. Asked to bat in bowler-friendly conditions, Levy crawled to 115 all out from nearly 45 overs against Sandridge. That the top contribution was 27 extras was telling.

Levy repaid the compliment to the visitors though, bowling 27 wides as Sandridge wrapped up victory – and the title – for the loss of just one wicket.

Jamie Wallis, who has done a fine job in testing circumstances in his first year as a captain following last year’s promotion, has already vowed to lead the team to promotion in Division Five A at the first time of asking.

Division Five A champions Watford Town Seconds ended the season with a one-wicket victory over Flamstead which resulted in their relegation.

Town, winning the toss, put their opponents into bat on soft damp pitch. Initially the medium pacers bowled a very tight line and length but Flamstead were equal to the task and batted cautiously. The openers put together 35 runs and kept all wickets intact until the spinners came into the attack.

Sparsh Jain picked up the the first two wickets and finished with five for ten runs. He was equally supported by spinner Ahsan Sajjad (two for 19) and skipper Gunjan Hazarika (two for 29).

Town started their innings poorly. Two wickets fell in the first over with no runs on the board and at this point Flamstead were on a roll. Sandeep Singh and Gunjan Hazarika tried to revive Town’s innings and put together a partnership but the latter was stumped when the score was 65. Two more wickets fell in quick succession but opener Singh kept fighting on one end. He eventually fell when he was on 46.

At this point it looked like Flamstead would get all their much needed 30 points. But it was the last two wickets for Town who stole the game away.

Jain hit four massive sixes to get the momentum back for Town and at this point Chirantan Hazarika was taking singles and supporting his teammate. They put together a valuable 40-run partnership until, with the score on129 and chasing 157 for victory, Jain finally fell on 37 trying to hit another big six.

Town required 29 runs with the last wicket in hand. Hazarika took the initiative and scored the remaining runs from one end. He hit four fours and remained not out on 23 runs to secure an unlikely win and send Flamstead down.

Hemel Hempstead Town Thirds secured promotion after finishing second following a four-wicket win over London Colney.

Put into bat, Colney amassed 181 for nine from their innings. Taq Hussain was in fine, form taking three for 29 and Anjam Khan also caught the eye with a return of three for 32 from ten overs.

Hemel were in all sorts of trouble on 18 for five. But the promotion-winning partnership of 160 between Hussain (68 not out) and Neil Morgan (85) proved the difference and swung the match in their favour. It meant Hemel were able to recover and reach the target with four wickets in hand and clinch promotion.