Title challenge back on for Watford Town after victory

They remain 4th in table but narrowed the points gap with 3rd placed Bishop's Stortford 2nds, who lost. Meanwhile, near-neighbours Langleybury, in 2nd place, won again to maintain their title challenge, ahead of their next match, which is against Watford Town, at Woodside.

Tewin chose to bat first and their innings was a roller coaster, losing a wicket in the first over, then three more in quick succession before they reached 80. Three batsmen then recorded scores in the 40s but when the scoreboard read 175 for 8, Town thought they were in the driving seat, only for the last two wickets to add another 50 runs and make the outcome unpredictable. The wickets were shared between seven of the eight bowlers used by Town.

By reducing Watford to 17 for 2, and later 104 for 5, including a couple of stunning catches, the high-quality Tewin team looked on course for a victory which would almost put them out of sight, at the top of the table. The hosts had strength in depth, however, especially with Gaurav Shinagare batting lower down the order than usual, as he stroked his way to 55 not out.

Tariq Mohammed (Image: Richard Bayliss)

He added a vital 42 runs with wicket keeper Ashwin Pulla, then found the perfect partner in Haseeb Khan, who scored 39 off 36 balls, in an unbroken partnership of 82, to take Town home by four wickets, with just four balls of the last over to spare. They were cheered home by players from Langleybury 3rd team, who had been playing on the adjoining pitch and finished much earlier, knowing that their 1st team would be the main beneficiaries of a Watford win.

DIVISION 4A - A thoroughly disappointing performance by Watford Town 2nds saw them knocked off the top spot, after going down at mid-table Hatfield Hyde, by 112 runs.

It was looking promising when Cookie Latif spun out the first three Hatfield batsmen before the total had reached 80, but that was the high point of Town's day. While the hosts were never allowed to dominate proceedings, their final total of 216 for 6 seemed to have a demoralizing effect on Town's batsmen, who capitulated for 106, in 33 overs, only one batsman passing the 20 mark.

As a result, they were leap-frogged in the table by Mill Hill Village, who scored only 148 but went on the beat Northwood Town by 25 runs.

DIVISION 7 WEST - Watford Town 3rds made the daunting trip to divisional leaders, Markyate, but made a great fight of it, before going down by just 14 runs.

The bowlers were generally happy to restrict Markyate to 205 for 9 off their 40 overs and it was encouraging to see Spencer Hobbs return the best figures of 3 for 19, in his first match since a serious injury.

In Watford's reply, Hobbs also provided a late cameo of 26 not out, after the earlier batsmen had made good starts but couldn't go on to build match-winning innings. Sajjad Bhatti (34) and Ben Burke (31) were the main contributors to a final total of 191, which ended in the 39th over.

DIVISION 12 WEST - Watford Town 4ths entertained Langleybury 3rds and were led from the front by skipper Amol Peshwe, who opened the batting and scored 56 off 65 balls, before being snared by veteran Kevin Kelly.

Few other batsmen made major contributions, but the final title of 196 for 9 was seen as defendable, and so it proved. Langleybury lost their first two wickets in the first over of their reply and they never really recovered. Dexter Coleman battled his way to 42, while Chris Thompson hit a run-a-ball 32 at the end, but after Mo Desai had dismissed the first four batsmen, at a personal cost of 20 runs, there was no way back and Langleybury went down by 54 runs.

DIVISION 14 WEST - Watford Town 5ths boasted not only the club's biggest win of the weekend but also the two best individual performances. They travelled up the M1 to face Harpenden 7th team and were soon scoring freely, through Imran Riaz (78) and Abu Choudhury (61), who put on an opening stand of 120. The game changed decisively, however, when Tariq Mohammed came in at no. 5 and score 108 not out, off just 58 balls, including 10 fours and 10 sixes.

Town's final total of 310 for 5 was always going to be too many for Harpenden and their task was made impossible by a wonderful spell of bowling by Yogesh Bhalerao, who took 7 wickets for 15 runs, in his 8 overs. It was the 2nd best bowling performance of the day, by any player, across the whole of the Hertfordshire League.

Harpenden were dismissed for 81, to lose by a massive 229 runs and Watford now lead the table by 27 points after nearest rivals, Potten End, went down to a surprise defeat, by six wickets, against Redbourn 5th team.