Watford Town 1st team returned to winning ways at Woodside, on Saturday (June 20), against another top 5 team, Flitwick 2nds. Town decided to bat first on a pitch subsequently described by the visitors, in a social media post, as "ropey"! Town's batters didn't find too many demons, however, as they scored at nearly five runs an over in building a total of 232 for 7, in their 50 overs.
Skipper Riahn Pieris again led the way, scoring 67, with nine 4s and two 6s, and enjoying a partnership of 99 with youngster Thrishul Muruganandh (47).
Flitwick's response got off to a disastrous start, with one of the openers run out before he had faced a ball, and they soon found themselves 38 for 4. The game turned decisively in Town's favour, however, in the 19th over, bowled by the skipper. Two weeks earlier, Pieris had taken a memorable hat trick, all clean bowled, now he almost managed the same feat again. With the score on 72-4 he took a wicket, clean bowled and, next ball, went through the new batsman's defences, to strike the stumps. There was to be no hat trick this time as the next batsman survived his first ball, but one ball later he was caught, leaving Flitwick in disarray and meaning Pieris had just missed out on the rare feat of two hat-tricks in a month.
When the end came in the 31st over, Flitwick had reached 107, leaving Watford winners by 125 runs, thanks largely to Pieris who took the man-of-the-match award, after finishing with figures of 4 for 14.
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Town jumped up to 4th in the table, as a result, just two points and one place behind Langleybury who suffered their first defeat of the season after being bowled out for 89 by new leaders, Tewin. Watford next make the long trip to face the team nine points ahead of them, Bishop's Stortford II, who are riding high in 2nd place.
Watford Town 2nds still lead division 4A after a tense battle at Sandridge, which saw them take maximum points by just five runs.
After deciding to bat first, each of Town's batsmen made a good start and all of them reached double figures, but only veteran Gunjan Hazarika went on build a big score, eventually being dismissed for 54 off 89 balls. The final total of 212-8 meant the bowlers had a big job on their hands to achieve victory, not for the first time.
Speaking about results this season, skipper Mo Syed said: "Our bowling has been our strength this year, and these kinds of games do test our abilities to perform under difficult match situations." The bowlers duly delivered for him, again.
All six of the front-line bowlers took wickets and they maintained control for most of the innings, which included a sixth wicket stand of 68 that seemed to be turning the match the way of the hosts. The score then changed dramatically, going from 183-5 to 188-8, but 10-man Sandridge reached the last of their 50 overs with one wicket still in hand and only six runs required. One ball later it was all over, young paceman Waj Rajpurkar taking the match-winning wicket.
The result kept Town at the top of the table, with nearest rivals, Mill Hill Village 1sts three points behind, after their own exciting game, which saw them beat third-place Hatfield Hyde by just nine runs after taking the last three wickets for just seven runs.
Watford Town's 3rd team slipped off the top after a heavy loss, by six wickets, to mid-table Harpenden 4ths.
Batting first, Town reached 66 for 1, which soon became 70 for 6 and only a rearguard action by the later batters enabled them to reach a respectable score of 140 all out, in the 37th over.
In spite of losing one early wicket and two more when the score was in the 50s, Harpenden coasted home with nearly 12 overs to spare.
Watford Town 4ths finished the day in 4th place, only 13 points off top spot, in spite of a disappointing defeat at the hands of Shenley Village 4ths.
After being asked to bat first, Shenley's batters enjoyed the conditions at Woodside, with two players recording half centuries, plus several other strong contributions to their total of 219 for 7 in 40 overs.
Town's response started well, with an opening partnership of 59 which should have set up a strong challenge but four wickets then fell within 14 runs, before the last five wickets went down for the addition of just 21 runs, condemning Town to their third defeat of the season, by 60 runs.
There was an early finish for Watford Town 5ths who overwhelmed local rivals Chorleywood 4ths, by nine wickets.
Chorleywood's decision to bat first looked questionable, when they fell to 45 for 8 within 20 overs. The last three batters nearly doubled the score, headed by Ollie Robinson with an unbeaten 34, but a final total of 88 was never going to be enough to prevent another defeat. Leading the way for the bowlers were skipper Faisal Abid, with 5 for 15, and Kamal Andena, who took 4 for 10.
In spite of the loss of an early wicket, Town coasted home in 10.1 overs, Shafqat Malik, with 44, and Tariq Mohammed on 30, the two unbeaten batsmen.
Town remain 2nd in the table, 14 points off top-placed Potten End and 27 points ahead of Kings Langley IV.
Town's Sunday 2nds were the only team in league action this week and enjoyed an exciting victory at Harefield. The hosts decided to bat and put on an opening stand of 59, before the middle order collapsed, losing four wickets for nine runs. Recovery from the later batters took the final score up to 184-9 in their 45 overs. Six of Town's seven bowlers shared the wickets.
At 38 for 3, Town's reply was faltering, until Rajiv Shrungarpure took charge, scoring 67 off 84 balls, but with wickets falling at regular intervals, it meant the last pair had to score 10 runs for victory, which they duly did, with nearly three overs to spare.
It was a memorable Father's Day match, with two fathers and sons playing for Town and making important contributions. The Sunday captain, young Waj Rajpurkar (1-19) and his dad, Javed (1-22) had opened the bowling together, before the batters took over and Tauseef Jan scored 32, ahead of his son, Rayyan, scoring 8 not out to take Town to victory.
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