Defeat leaves Hemel leaves them in precarious position

It was looking good against Hoddesdon at 201-4 after 39 overs with Jack Doodson (46) and James Potton (73) having put on 109 for the 5th wicket. But with the fall of James Potton, who had hit 73 from 48 balls with seven fours and four sixes, the rest of the innings subsided away as Hemel lost their last six wickets for just 46 runs to end 247 all out.

Hoddesdon went after it at a pace. Usual 'Mr Dependable' was hit for 76 in his 10 overs and the other side of dependability Parth Metha was hit for 27 in his first 3 overs. It made defending the total that more difficult and with the hitting of Oliver Arkinstal (86 in 65 balls), Hoddesdon were able to get to 248-6 in just 40 overs.

This weekend’s game at Redbourn has moved into the role of ' must win' for both sides as it would seem, with two games to play, whoever wins will stay up in the Championship for this season.

Hemel II had a crunching win against Chipperfield/Clarendon I by 183 runs.

Chipps must have thought they were in when after 12 overs they had Hemel at 43 - 4. But then Hemel skipper Brad Finch smashed 135* in 142 balls with 13 fours and three sixes in the company of Phil Costard who hit 77 in 86 balls, six fours and two sixes, in the course of which they put on a partnership of 190 for the fifth wicket, a new record by 60 runs above the previous one of 133 between Tom Waterton (126) and Liam Jahn (47) scored at Hunton Bridge against Langleybury II in 2017.

Having crashed the runs it was then up to the bowlers and Ajay Savania stepped up to the mark with 5-26 in eight overs to help bowl Chipps all out for 123.

Hemel III also had a convincing victory with am 87-run win over Old Finchleians II in Division 6A, their opponents still 25 points above them in third place.

Batting first Hemel III made it to 230-9 in their 50 overs with skipper for the day Ram Hussain topping on 35 together with useful scores of 28 from Lutero Corrigan, 27 from both Taq Hussain and Sam Wheeler and 23* from Anjam Khan.

Then the bowling to get the win. There was a tight 2 - 18 from 10 overs by Ed Grayson but the star was Saleem Khan who turned in 5 - 34 from seven overs as the Old Finchleian middle order was run through.

Bentley Heath gained revenge for defeat in June by beating Hemel IV convincingly.

Batting first Hemel were only able to make a score of 70 with Jim Langley (15), Mike Samuels (11) and Andy Turbutt (10) the only ones to get into double figures.

The Bentley opening bowler Lee Riley turned in a neat 5 - 23 from his 8 overs to help them along.

It’s Wheathampstead II and Redbourn III the last two fixtures for Hemel, who are both in the top half of the table so things look tricky for Hemel in their survival battle.

A tight game in Div.11W saw Watford Town V just hold out to beat Hemel V by seven runs.

Put in by Hemel, Watford could thank Jaght Singh with a score of 62, nearly half their total score. For Hemel the star was Obi Buckley who turned in 5 - 25 to keep Watford well under control.

Hemel edged closer to the target with scores of 21 from keeper Phil Smith (the elder) and 23 from Obi Buckley again. Then 32 from Miles Barnard down at no. 10 almost got Hemel home but not quite and they had to settle for a close defeat.