Premier Division

It was an agonising weekend for Radlett as they went down to the narrowest of one-run defeats against Bishops Stortford.

The hosts won the toss and elected to bat first on a day where neither set of batsmen lit up the scoreboards.

Indeed, while a group of Stortford players made a start, no one player stamped their name on the final total of 164 all out.

There were, however, useful contributions from Reece Hussain (32), Dominic Chatfield (29), Joe Hawkins (25) and Henry Ramsden (23).

Randeep Sanghera had the most joy with the ball, picking up a five-for to finish with 5-30, while Abdulrahim Mulla (3-44) also impressed.

Radlett would have fancied their chances of chasing down their opponents, and looked to be well on their way to doing so as opener Fraser Crawford scored 41 to take them to 78-3.

Their innings began to crumble after he was trapped lbw though and a batting collapse saw them slump to 155-9.

From their Kabir Toor and Simeon Cohen attempted to drag Radlett over the line, but fell just short after Toor was snared by Ben Kynman (4-62) with the score on 163.

Travis Hussain caused Radlett the most damage on his way to figures of 5-38 and Simon Lindop (1-19) also struck.

Championship

Langleybury were on the receiving end of an altogether more comprehensive defeat against Hoddesdon as they suffered an eight-wicket thrashing.

Having taken the best part of 44 overs to struggle to a total of 119 all out, Langleybury saw their opponents knock off the required runs in nearly half the time.

Luke Samarasinghe was the only Langleybury man to show any resilience with the bat and top scored with an unbeaten 37.

A dearth of quality elsewhere gave the Hoddesdon bowlers the initiative throughout and Sam Davis (5-29) had a particularly profitable day with the ball.

In Langleybury’s defence, they made a promising start to the defence of their paltry sum, striking in the first over before reducing Hoddesdon to 19-2.

That was as good as it got for the home side though, and unbeaten half-centuries from Jayden Broodyk (54) and Davis (52) took Hoddesdon over the line.

The losing theme continued as West Herts suffered a 67-run loss on the road against Reed.

Reed’s innings looked to be in serious jeopardy when they fell to 124-7, but Sean Tidey’s fine display with the bat ensured they had a reasonable total defend.

The number nine hit 46 not out from 54 deliveries as Reed closed out their innings, which also featured a useful 42 from Stuart Smith, on 199-8.

William Jones was the main man with the ball for Herts and collected 4-47 and there were also wickets for Matthew Smith (2-46), Daniel Woosley (1-14), Ian Gurney (1-24) and Avinash Mane (1-40).

The Herts’ chase lacked impetus from the get go and Smith’s top score of 21 epitomised a batting effort devoid of quality.

Toby Fynn finished with the best figures for Reed with figures of 3-35 and Tidey returned to haunt Herts once again, claiming 2-28 as Reed dismissed their opponents for 132.

Meanwhile, Chorleywood ended a run of nine games on the spin without a win as they eased to a five-wicket win against Boxmoor Thirds.

Rich Lake put down the foundations for the win as he picked up 3-12 to help restrict Boxmoor to a meagre total of 100.

Victory was all but assured providing Chorleywood batted sensibly and they did exactly that as Jonathan Lyons (28), Ian Sutcliffe (25) and Brian Saunders (23) took them victory.

Division One

Hemel Hempstead Town and Leverstock Green were forced to settle for a share of the spoils as they played out a high-scoring draw.

Green took to the crease first and a solid all-round effort with the bat saw them close their innings on 238-7.

Five of their top six made an impression on the scorers, with Kris Jadeja (49) and Nick Merrett (47 not out) doing much to build the imposing score.

Add to the mix respective scores of 36, 34 and 20 from Harry Blagden, Sol Tomlinson and Lewis Koch and Hemel were facing an uphill task to salvage anything from the game.

It was one they refused to back down from and went within 20 runs of achieving as they closed their 47 overs on 219-8.

Abbas Ali was Green’s dominant force with the ball, finishing with 3-46, while Majid Khan and Dayle Littlejohn matched each and both claimed 2-47.

Christian James led the way for Kings Langley on their way to a five-wicket win over Shenley Village as he claimed 5-27 with a fine bowling performance.

His display helped restrict Shenley to 129, with Kris Nissen’s 37 providing the only real highlight of a below-par innings.

The Kings response started in uninspiring fashion, with the opening three contributing just 13 runs between them.

Liberty Maher settled the nerves after the early scare and couldn’t be beaten on his way to making a match-winning 57.

Division Two A

There was little to separate Abbots Langley and Knebworth as Langley just lost out in a five-run defeat.

With the top four sides in the division all playing each other, the meeting was a good chances for Langley to show their credentials against a side chasing promotion.

They made a good start to doing exactly that when Kneboworth won the toss and elected to bat, but were immediately put on the back foot.

Matt Parkins was proving particularly useful with cherry in hand and claimed an impressive 5-41 to help skittle Knebworth out for 129.

Despite the loss of two early wickets, Abbots made fairly steady progress and were in a stable position with the score on 73-2.

A mini wobble saw them reduced to 11-6, but with just 19 runs required to win they were still in control of their own destiny.

However, the last four wickets fell for 13 runs to send the visitors to the most bitter of defeats.

Division Two B

After struggling for form early in the season, Bushey appear to have found their rhythm after claiming their second win on the bounce.

The 21-run win over high-flying Eversholt came as a surprise as they upset the form book to emerge victorious.

Batting first, Bushey made 211-9 from their 53 overs to put themselves in a dominant position they would refuse to relinquish in the field.

Not that Eversholt didn’t put the pressure on as they batted with the sort of determination which has taken them to the upper reaches of the division, but fell short on 190.

Division Three B

Luton Town & Indians were too strong for Hemel Hempstead Seconds and ran out six-wicket winners.

Hemel were below-par with the bat and Luton took control of proceedings as they bowled their opponents out for 152.

Their dominance in the field was thanks in no small part to Ali Ul Haq, who collected 3-24 and was ably supported by Shuaib Dalvi (2-19) and Gagan Kashyap (2-36).

Luton then made light work of reaching down the total as Masood Mahmood’s 46 added to scores of 29 from Jeremy Page and 24 from Jessen Patel in a successful chase.

Division Seven A

Finally, Bushey Seconds were put to the sword by an utterly dominant Weston in a crushing away defeat.

Weston made their intentions clear from the outset as they won the toss and elected to set about the Bushey attack with the bat.

What response Bushey could muster was largely repelled and Weston made 290-8 from their innings.

The Weston score meant victory was all but out of Bushey’s reach by the time their openers took to the crease.

Ultimately they fell someway short, and were bowled out 112 runs shy of their target on 178.