Hemel Town I got their revenge on Stevenage by beating them at Ditchmore Lane in the Herts League Premier Division.
Having lost to their opponents at home earlier in the season, Hemel stared Saturday’s away fixture well, with Brett Penny (47) and Hem Ilangaratne (44) putting on an opening partnership of 100 for the first wicket.
Gareth James made 36 and Adam Winchester added 31, but there were no other major contributions as Hemel made it to 241 before being bowled out in 56 overs.
There was an early wicket of Gary Brown in the first over for James but then Chris Whitworth (65) and Shadrach Gittens Browne (74) took the Stevenage score up to 144 after 25 overs.
James was still there for Hemel, though, and he dismissed both batsmen in the 25th and 27th overs to put Hemel back on top.
Then the duo of Penny (3-37) and Parth Mehta (3-40) came in to play as they ran through the rest of the Stevenage batting line-up.
Hemel ended up winning by 46 runs to maintain fifth place in the table.
In a rain-effected game, Hemel Town II beat Wheathampstead I to go top of Division Two.
Hemel batted first, and 30 from the top batsmen Suren Perera (36), Tom Elborn (37) and Jon Pearson (30) saw them going well until the heavens opened at 3.15pm.
Declaring on 176-8, Hemel then had plenty of overs to bowl Wheathampstead out.
Eventually, 46 overs was what it took, as 5-53 for the spin of Bryan Davies and 3-24 for Duncan Howard’s seam took Hemel to the summit.
Hemel Town III picked up 18 points from their Division Five game, but it could have been 30 if they had bowled lowly Hoddesdon II out.
Batting first, Hemel made it to 209-8 with runs from everyone. The top score came from Anjam Khan with 41 followed by Rahul Wickramsinghe with 28, Scott Radcliffe with 23 and the rest in late teens.
Hoddesdon were then struggling at 98-7 after 35 overs, but 63 from number 8 Adam Sturdy held Hemel up and saved the game.
When Phil Freebrey bowled him out the score was 163 with only two overs left, and Hoddesdon held on comfortably.
Elsewhere, a fervent battle between the two sides at the foot of Division 11 East was won by Hemel Town V against Redbourn IV.
Redbourn were happy with their score of 209-7 which was largely due to 130 from Ali Tyler with his 130.
For Hemel, Jack Boughton turned in figures of 6-40 and ran out the other wicket.
It was tricky for Hemel skipper Tony Linfoot as to how to play the game, but he decided that staying in at the beginning was key which proved the right choice.
He stayed there all the way through to score 105 n/o, while Mel Boughton stayed for 36 in an opening partnership of 106.
Rhys Fowler added 31 and Hemel were home, but they remain second from bottom in the table.
Hemel Town Sunday II made it three wins from four games in Chess Valley League Division Seven as they got the better of Redbourn.
Things didn’t look good for Hemel as, after 23 overs, they were 109-6 with all the top batsmen gone. Dave Jenkins (39) and Tony Linfoot (24) were the only notable run-makers.
But number 8 Rory Fraser scored 34 and Charlie Hoskins at number 9 scored 49 to bring things around.
Hoskins was the last man out with three balls remaining, going for his 50.
The top of Redbourn’s innings performed better and they were on course, but then the mystical spin of U14 youngster Rahul Rickramsinghe came to play.
In nine overs he took 5-35, aided by some sharp catching, and Hemel were able to dismiss Redbourn for 182 and win by 32 runs.
> Kings Langley
Kings Langley I saw their Division One game with Broxbourne abandoned after 33 overs when a heavy rainstorm halted proceedings.
Kings had won the toss and were 163-3 with Ricky Mohamed 36 n/o and Tom Sambrook 35 n/o. Harry Sambrook earlier scored 53.
With other matches played to a conclusion, Kings need to win their next game against Hitchin to keep away from the relegation zone.
Kings Langley II settled for a draw against Old Haberdashers in Division Six.
After winning the toss, Kings declared on 260-4 after 50 overs with Ben Joyce (126 n/o) scoring his first century and Nigel Barlow adding 75.
In reply, Old Haberdashers pushed for the win but closed their innings on 229-7 with Radleigh Tant taking three wickets. Duane Smith bagged two wickets, Richard Whitlock took one and there was one run out.
Kings Langley III lost to rivals Abbots Langley III by two wickets in Division Nine.
Kings batted first and scored 168 all out in the 34th over, with only Sam Joyce (69) coming to terms with the hosts’ bowling.
Abbots were always in control and secured their win in the 44th over.
Kings Langley IV moved up to fifth in Division 12 West after a 31-run victory over Watford Town V.
Kings only managed a total of 108 all out, with Tony Thompson scoring 37, Simon Lloyd hitting 18 and Barry Harding adding 17.
Hadi Rizvi and Josh Lloyd then both took 3-23 for Kings, with Tony Thompson (2-20) and Barry Harding (2-11) taking the other wickets.
> Abbots Langley
Abbots Langley I won their second game in a row with a hard fought one-wicket victory over Cockfosters.
Bowling first, Abbots were quickly into their stride – taking two quick wickets – however Cockfosters got back into the game and, at 137-4, looked well set for a big score.
Abbots skipper Mat Dunstone (4-33) then bought himself on and changed the game by taking three wickets and, along with Dom Smith (3-25), saw Cockfosters lose six wickets in five overs and capitulate to 152 all out.
Any thoughts of an easy win were quickly forgotten as Abbots slumped to 69-6.
However, with a bit of luck and some aggressive hitting from Dunstone and Blesson Ghoghe (28), they clawed their way back into the game.
It was left to Dunstone (74 n/o) and an injured Peter Metcalfe to come in at number 11 with a runner, to get Abbots over the line for another vital win.
Abbots Langley II enjoyed a successful afternoon against St Margeretsbury II, winning by 63 runs.
There were consistent scores for Abbots when they batted, with Dave Carlisle (34), Nick Gurney (36) and John Battams (25) the main contributors to their score of 192 all out.
St Margaretsbury seemed to be going well at 55-2, but Andrew Rueth (4-21), George Aguis (2-14) and Carlisle (2-34) – along with some excellent catching and fielding – saw Abbots bowl their opponents out for 129.
Abbots Langley III beat close rivals Kings Langley III by two wickets in an evenly-contested game.
Kings were bowled out for 168, with Bob Russell, Anish Khiroya, and Neil White taking three wickets apiece.
Although Abbots were 112-5 at one stage, in-form Lee Rossiter (62 n/o) and Neel Patel (51)batted with authority to take them to victory.
Abbots Langley IV were outplayed in every department as they crashed to a nine-wicket defeat against top of the table Watford Town IV.
Scoring only 49, with skipper Pete Bailey getting 30 of those, Watford wrapped up the win in only eight overs.
Abbots Langley Sunday I found Tring Park too hot to handle as they slumped to a humiliating 190-run defeat in the Chess Valley League.
Nick Gurney (2-58) and Jim Davies (2-61) bowled well but couldn’t stop Tring racing to 288-7 in their 45 overs.
Davies (18) was Abbots’ top scorer in as they were swept away for a meagre 98