Premier Division

West Herts snapped a three-match losing streak with a relatively comfortable four-wicket win at home to Letchworth Garden City.

The Park Avenue club had William Jones and Matthew Smith to thank as the pair delivered star performances with bat and ball to help the Stags move back above Radlett and into fifth.

After winning the toss, it was Jones (6-44) who proceeded to set the tone by decimating the visitors’ top order to leave them 21-4.

A brief respite arrived thanks to a partnership of 54 between Nathan Sprittles and George Denman, before the former became Jones’ fifth victim of the afternoon when he fell for 33.

Despite 44 from Denman and 36 from Adam Jenkins, West Herts continued their dominance in the field to bowl out Letchworth for just 150 as Smith mopped up the tail to the tune of 4-36.

Things did not begin well for the Stags in reply, however, as their top order subsided with worrying ease to leave them firmly on the back foot at 51-6.

Jonny Harris’ 3-26, two wickets from Maxford Pipe (2-43) and 1-40 from Praveen Bhatti seemingly put Letchworth in control.

But a captain’s innings from Jones, who made an unbeaten 45, and a fine half-century from Smith (56) eased West Herts to their victory target with eight overs to spare.

Radlett suffered contrasting fortunes as they surrendered fifth place with a heavy 130-run defeat at Potters Bar, who remain firmly in the title race.

The one-sided reverse means the Cobden Hill side’s indifferent run of results continues, just a week removed from ending their two-match losing streak with a dominant victory against Bishop’s Stortford.

Put into the field, not even three wickets apiece from Anthony Hill (3-46) and Muhammed Adil Zareef (3-64) could prevent high-flying Bar from posting a competitive total of 263-8 from their allotted 60 overs.

Leading the way with the bat was Kamran Younas, who posted 84 before he was run out by Abdulrahim Mulla, while captain Steve Gale’s 67 firmly set the tone at the top of the order.

Radlett’s reply got off to a disastrous start with the loss of two wickets for nine runs, including captain Kabir Toor for just four off the bowling of Jigar Mehta (4-27).

A partnership of 21 between Joe Cooke (22) and Fraser Crawford (15) steadied things before a collapse from 31-2 to 101-7 ensued, chiefly orchestrated by Paul McGee’s 2-18 which opened the floodgates.

Only a battling 30 from Archit Goenka gave the visitors any hope, but with regular wickets falling around him there was never any danger of Radlett forcing victory as they collapsed to 133 all out.

Championship

Hemel Hempstead Town breezed to a seven-wicket victory over Langleybury that, when combined with results elsewhere, propelled them up to third in a tightly congested Championship.

In a weather-affected match, the Heath Park side made light work of the 196 runs required for victory as they brought up their target with over half of their allotted overs remaining.

Hosts Langleybury won the toss and batted first but stumbled to a disappointing 195 not out, an innings that owed a considerable deal to opener Nahim Amin, who battled for a well-constructed 65.

There was some support lower down the scorecard in the form of 29 from Khalid Manzoor at number seven, while captain Richard Oxley contributed 28.

Hemel chipped away at the Langleybury batting card with regular wickets as the impressive Nick Hodgins (5-31) led the way in accounting for half of those breakthroughs.

He was well supported by the rest of the bowling unit as there were scalps for Shidhu Kanade (2-47) and solitary dismissals for Steve Reader (1-23), Parth Mehta (1-24) and Lewis Hodgins (1-52).

Hemel openers Johan Maritz (25) and Hemish Ilangaratne (18) got things started before the match-winning partnership of 133 between Lewis Hodgins, who crashed an unbeaten 73, and Brett Penny (66) saw the visitors home inside 28 overs.

Division Two A

Watford Town lost further ground on the pacesetters after suffering an agonising 10-run defeat away at second-placed Hitchin.

With a revised target of 248 to chase from 43 overs, Town simply ran out of time and must contend with the fact that defeat – while leaving them in third – has seen a plethora of clubs close the gap below them.

Batting first at Lucas Lane, the hosts posted an excellent total of 288-5 from their 50 overs with skipper Shaftab Khalid carrying his bat as he spearheaded their innings with an unbeaten 142.

Supplementary runs arrived thanks to 42 from Sanjay Chandarana and a counter-attacking knock of 41 from Danny Fair that helped take them to 250 and beyond.

Watford kept pace with the required rate for the first 30 overs until another rain delay terminally ended their hopes with in excess of eight an over required from there on out.

An excellent 88 from Ali Ahmed, 66 from Kahif Ali and 43 from Ali Mitru took them to within a whisker of victory as they finished on a respectable 238-5, earning nine batting points that proved to be mere consolation.

Division Four B

West Herts Seconds made it 11 victories from a possible 13 as they saw off the challenge posed by Northampton Exiles with a seven-wicket success that extends their lead at the summit.

Stags bowlers Raoul Harding (3-35) and Ryan Magee (2-31) made the early inroads with two wickets apiece, before rearguard action arrived in the form of a spirited 76 from captain Michael Bullard.

There was useful support from Ali Shah, who claimed 2-34, with one wicket each for Lachlan McLean (1-13) and Waheed Chaudhary (1-18) helping to dismiss Northampton for 175 after 48.2 overs.

In response, Vinny Gorasia and Richard Mason were both removed for ducks as the West Herts chase got off to a rocky start.

However, McLean and Mason Denning took centre stage with 79 and 68 respectively to whisk the Stags to victory inside 37 overs, a win that leaves them a full 34 points clear of nearest challengers Leverstock Green Seconds.

Division Five A

Watford Town Seconds completed the double over Bentley Heath with a 51-run triumph at Woodside, a result that keeps them hot on the heels of second placed Holtwhites Trinibis Seconds.

Batting first, interim captain Gunjan Hazarika anchored the Town innings with an excellent 95, and there was 26 off the penultimate over as late hitting set a challenging target of 286.

Ahead of the rate, Heath capitulated in reply losing seven wickets in a 10-over spell to fall to defeat.

Victory means Watford lie just 11 points behind Holtwhites in third.

Division Nine B

Leverstock Green Thirds thrashed title rivals Old Minchendenians by nine wickets to leapfrog them into first place in the table.

Lethal, economical bowling from Green duo Steve May (4-15) and Ritchie Carruthers (4-18) wiped out a steady start for OMCC as they collapsed from 50-1 to 95 all out.

In reply, Levy were scarcely troubled as they recovered from the loss of Chris Saxby for 23 to reach their victory target inside 16 overs.

Captain Tom Callingham (55 not out) made an unbeaten half-century as he and Luke Weston (15 not out) guided them to a stunning victory.