A perfect ten for The Moor as winning streak continues

The victory made it ten wins in a row to start the season in the Herts Saracens Division 6B as The Moor went 28 points clear at the top of the standings.

Boxmoor skipper Richard Crowther lost the toss but was quite happy with being asked to bowl first, especially when opening paceman Joe Hall reduced Allenburys to 0-2 after the first three deliveries.

Hall narrowly missed out on his second hat-trick of the season, but opening partner James McCluskey soon got in on the act by claiming the third wicket in the fifth over.

From a perilous position of 3-3, Allenburys needed urgent rebuilding, which they duly got from the experienced pair of Gavin Barnaby (40) and Simon Hibbert (39) as they put on 61 over the next 21 overs.

It was slow going as Crowther and Prateek Malhotra (2-33) kept the scoring down and Hibbert was finally dismissed with his innings having taken 42 overs.

The opposition increased the tempo only in the last few overs despite Hall (3-23) and McCluskey (2-37) returning to take late wickets.

The visitors finished on a respectable 173-8 from their 50 overs, especially considering the poor start.

In reply, Boxmoor’s openers Matt Smalley-Harris and Ben Mannering continued where they left off from the previous week with a partnership of 58.

Smalley-Harris dominated with a fluent 46, disappointed not to reach his half-century as he drove a ball straight back to bowler Bartsch.

But despite Allenburys skipper Hibbert’s attempts to try to slow the Boxmoor run-scoring, it was the returning Aidan Pimm (32) and son Sam who got the hosts within sight of victory with a third-wicket partnership of 84.

It was the junior Pimm who played the aggressor, smashing nine fours and a six in his unbeaten 58, capitalising on being dropped early on.

After the loss of Pimm Sr, it took Hall to strike the winning boundary as the victorious Moor won their 10th successive match in the 41st over.

They now remain one of just four clubs in the entire Saracens league to have maintained a 100 per cent winning record so far this term.

Next up for The Moor is a local derby away at fifth-placed Berkhamsted II this Saturday.

Boxmoor’s 2nds won by a whopping 226 runs away at London Colney II in Division 9B, as the win moved them ahead of their opposition to fifth in the table. Rewen Harper hit a brilliant 71, while Saair Hamdani was unbeaten on 64 for his first half-century of the season.

The Moor’s 3rds won by 91 runs away at Hatch End II in Regional Division B West.

And Boxmoor’s Sunday first XI won by 100 runs in a home friendly with near-neighbours Great Gaddesden.