Division Two Old Albanian 136-10 (38.1) Leverstock Green 137-7 (53.3) OLD Albanian face a final tense league of the season as they enter the last weekend in the third relegation spot after losing to Division Two leaders Leverstock Green on Saturday.

Division Two

Old Albanian 136-10 (38.1) Leverstock Green 137-7 (53.3)

OLD Albanian face a final tense league of the season as they enter the last weekend in the third relegation spot after losing to Division Two leaders Leverstock Green on Saturday.

After losing the toss, the Old Albanian side were dismissed for 136 with Matthew Corran being the pick of the Batsmen scoring 48. In reply Leverstock Green strengthened their push for the league winners trophy by easing home for the loss of seven wickets.

OA II completed a much-needed victory on Saturday at home to Leverstock Green II to avoid relegation to Division Six. OAs won the toss and elected to bat in a must win game.

Phil Read opened the innings and scored a gritty 33 against some very tight bowling. A middle order collapse left OA reeling at 88 for 6. It was left to the young guns Tariq Hassan and David Goodier to enact their legendary batting partnerships. In a 53 run partnership the dynamic duo took the score to a challenging 140 for 6 before Goodier was caught for 27.

Tariq Hassan mixed aggression with caution and was bowled by a fast inswinging yorker when he was on 47. The OA innings ended at 173 all out.

Veteran Perry Barr opened the bowling and collected three wickets in his second over with rookie Brian Crook taking two diving catches behind the stumps and reducing Leverstock Green to 18 for 3. The Leverstock batsmen consolidated their position but a further brace by skipper Barr and a well directed throw at the stumps by Arif Hassan reduced them to 108 for 6.

The Leverstock batsmen continued to seek a win and were slowly edging towards the total when two wickets by Tariq Hassan reduced them to 122 for 9. The last pair batted well and were scoring at will. With 23 runs remaining spin king Hassan bowled the danger man round his legs to the delight of his team mates. The win ensured another season in Division Five for the OA outfit.

The OA III had a high scoring game at home to Frogmore as Duncan Taylor (58) continued his excellent league season.

Taylor helped the home side reach 219 off their allotted overs as was supported by David Burrows who hit a quick fire 39. Colt Chris Kent opened the batting and demonstrated maturity beyond his years showing great potential.

During Frogmore's reply another colt Joe Easter demonstrated his potential by bowling two hostile spells to produce figures of 3-19 from 10 overs. Stand in captain David Burrows was very impressed with the young fast bowler and looks forward to a more successful season next year with some of these colts gaining valuable experience this year. Providing able support to Easter was Rob Strange, who proved he could be a valuable all rounder for the side by taking two wickets. In the end the game ended in a draw with Frogmore falling short on 189-8

Old Albanian IV lost their final league of the season at Preston III and just missed out on promotion from Division 13. The OAs reduced promotion-chasing Preston to 115-9 with Hiren Amin taking 4-39 but were bowled out for 72 in reply. Captain Neil Gibson was the only batsmen to offer any resistance by scoring 25. The win means that Preston secured second place in the table.