Victories in the Hertfordshire League were again achieved by four out of Watford Town's five teams, on Saturday. The only defeat came in the top-of-the-table clash between the first teams of Town and local rivals, Langleybury.
Hertfordshire Premier Cricket League Division 2B
Watford Town visited unbeaten Langleybury and in a close battle for the top spot it was the home team which eventually triumphed, by 38 runs.
Town asked Langleybury to bat first, which looked a questionable decision when the score reached 154-2, skipper Matthew Dickson leading the way, with 54 and Angus Ball contributing 41. Town then struck back, taking four wickets for the addition of only three runs, to swing the balance back in their favour.
The revival was only brief, however, as they came up against Matthew Wilson, who struck a marvellous century. When he was 9th man out, the score had reached 266 and he had 108 to his name, off 75 balls, with 15 fours and a couple of sixes.
The final 50-overs total of 276-9 would be a big challenge for the visitors and they found themselves with a mountain to climb by the end of the very first over, when the scoreboard read 2 for 2! The damage was done by Ollie Ilott, son of former Watford Town captain, Nigel, with Ollie eventually finishing as the game's most successful bowler, taking 4 for 55.
Town had to rebuild their innings very quickly and did so, thanks to Syed Ali (46) and skipper Riahn Pieris (45), who put on 98 at the required run rate, until both were out within eight runs of each other. They were dismissed by Steve Carter, who quickly took another wicket, leaving Town to rebuild their innings for a second time.
In spite of a battling 51 from Ayaan Athazaz, it proved too much and the innings fell away, ending on 238 in the 47th over. Town picked up 18 points, against Langleybury's 30, and slipped to 5th in the table, as a result, ahead of a visit by Flitwick 2nds who themselves rose to 3rd place at the weekend.
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Division 2B – top five
Division 4A
Watford Town 2nds went to the top of division 4A after a battling victory by 25 runs, at Woodside, against basement team Letchworth.
The visitors didn't look like a team which had failed to win this season, taking four wickets by the time Town had reached 50 and keeping up the pressure throughout the innings. The fact that Town were
able to reach a respectable total of 149, which lasted for 41 overs, was largely down to the skipper, Mo Syed, who was eventually run out having scored 52 off 76 balls.
When Letchworth batted, a strong response was required from Town's bowling attack and they duly delivered, reducing the visitors to 57 for 5. In spite of an unbeaten 48 from Dan Munson, the bowlers kept the run rate down, while picking up wickets, earning the victory in the 35th over with Letchworth all out for 124. The Watford hero was spin artist Cookie Latif, who finished with 6 for 31 in his 10 overs. That proved to be the day's second best bowling analysis across the whole of the Hertfordshire League, behind veteran Kevin Kelly, who took 6 for 27 for Langleybury 3rd team.
The result sent Town to the top of the table, overtaking Mill Hill Village, who went down to a surprising defeat at Hatfield & Crusaders.
Division 7 West
Watford Town's 3rd team are also top of their division after Saturday's victory at Woodside, leading div. 7A by just three points, over Bushey 2nds.
Against St Albans 3rds, Town were in the driving seat from the start, picking up early wickets to leave the visitors 45 for 6, with the damage being done mainly by Tauseef Jan and Mo Desai. There was some resistance from the middle order but with Rupesh Nagarkar cleaning up the tail, with three quick wickets, the final total of 105 was never going to challenge Town's in-form batters.
Ahtsham Hussain top scored, with 30, as Town reached their target with more than 12 overs to spare.
Division 12 West
Watford Town 4ths are well in the promotion hunt, in 2nd place, after a convincing win, by 36 runs, at Berkhamsted.
Most of Town's early batters contributed to their challenging total of 232 for 6, in 40 overs, Cijine John leading the way with an unbeaten 63.
Half of Berkhamsted's batters were back in the pavilion before the team's score had reached 100, but any thoughts of a quick victory for Town were soon dispelled by strong resistance from Gabriel Legris (58) and Pete Dudley (40 not out). They were always behind the run rate, however, and still needed 40 to win when the last over was given to Cijine John to bowl. He confirmed his man-of-the-match performance by taking two wickets with his last two balls! The most successful bowler was Yogesh Bhalerao, with 4 for 39, as Berkhamsted 3rds finished on 196-8.
Division 14 West
Watford Town 5ths and Pinner 4ths are both riding high in 14 West and finished the day in 2nd and 3rd places, respectively, after their match went the way of Watford, by 21 runs.
Town were put into bat and the early batters took a positive approach, Owais Ahmed leading the way, scoring 53 off 50 balls, supported mainly by Ben Burke, with a more careful 34. That early success was soon overshadowed by a late order collapse, which saw Town lose their last seven wickets while adding just 19 runs.
Pinner's response was steady, as the early batters were kept in check by Town's bowlers, who then took vital wickets in batches. The most decisive clatter of wickets, in a collapse to rival Watford's,
earlier, came at the end of the innings, when the last five wickets went down for the addition of just seven runs. Ben Burke was the main architect of that downfall, with 4 for 23, as Pinner were bowled out for 155 in the 39th over.
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