Pimm and Mahajan help Boxmoor towards a vital victory which guarantees their league survival

The stars of the show were opener Aidan Pimm with his second century of the season, batting through the innings for a well-crafted 105, and left-arm spinner Amit Mahajan with six wickets.

Winning the toss, skipper Richard Crowther had no hesitation in batting first on a slow wicket with low bounce. The Moor’s openers had to be watchful early, scoring at three an over for the first 10. Dan Hobbs was the first wicket to fall with 30 on the board whereby Crowther joined the ever-dependable Pimm who was taking his time to get into a groove. Crowther found the boundary regularly as he dominated a 56-run duo, scoring 42 before being bowled by a delivery that kept very low.

This was quickly followed by the loss of Luke Flynn with the next ball.

But this didn’t deter Pimm, as he began to up the pace and push towards a winning score. He found a capable partner in James McCluskey (31) for the fifth wicket as they went past 200. The Hatfield bowlers and fielders were tiring quickly and their heads dropped as Pimm powered on to his ton, in the penultimate over, bringing it up with his 14th and final boundary. Pimm has now scored more than 600 runs this season at an average in excess of 50.

The Moor finished on 257-7 from their 50 overs, a total which the skipper thought was above par for the pitch.

In reply, the Boxmoor bowlers started well and put early pressure on Hatfield. McCluskey was the pick of the seamers (7-3-14-2) with early wickets, as the Moor looked to keep on top. The introduction of Mahajan proved decisive as pace was taken off the ball. Getting many deliveries to grip and turn, he soon got the better of the batsmen, producing season-best figures of 6-25. Hatfield had no answer to his quality and it was only fitting that he bowled the last man out in the 36th over for the lowly score of 132.

They face bottom side Bovingdon this Saturday.

The Boxmoor second team won by five wickets when hosting Preston III. Nick Cottrell (47) and Miles Harrison (47) were joint top scorers as the Moor gained victory with four overs to spare.

A much-changed Boxmoor III lost by nine wickets when entertaining Leverstock Green IV in Herts League Regional Division B West.