West Herts lost to Harpenden in their top-of-the-table match

They now sit joint second behind Harpenden in the table. Once again, for the seventh successive time this season, Cole Seggery lost the toss and the Stags were invited to bat.

Their innings got off to a flying start with the prolific opening pair of Patel (48) and Faleel (35) putting on 92 for the first wicket in 18 overs. However, when Harpenden’s Kiwi spinner, Tashkoff, was introduced into the attack, wickets began to fall and the runs dried up.

When joined by veteran Frazer, there followed a period when runs were hard to come by. The twin spin attack ended with joint figures of 40 overs 7-130.

Only Perera (54) mastered the Harpenden spinners, and the Stags' final total of 218 looked under par.

In reply, at 97-2, Harpenden looked comfortable with Batchelor (52) striking at better than a run a ball. However, with a flurry of wickets with the score at 127-6, a possible home win was back on the cards.

However, a stand of 48 between Gosling and Frazer pushed Harpenden to the brink of victory. Despite the fall of another two wickets, Harpenden got over the line with eight wickets down.

Chohan (3), Khan (2), and Gurney (2) were the main wicket-takers for the Stags.

Elsewhere in the League, West Herts 2’s recorded their first win of the season in division 2A clash against Stevenage first team.

A match-winning innings of 87 not out for Yaamir Khurana and four wickets for Jai Hender leading the way. There were also wins for West Herts 4’s and 6’s in divisions 9 West and 12 West respectively.

The fifth team had a week off with no fixture but remain top of Division 11 West. In 6B, the third team went down to a heavy defeat at the hands of Langleybury 2’s and remain at the bottom of the table.

Hopefully, reinforcements are on the way as schools and universities break up for the summer.