Redbourn suffered their first loss in the Saracens Herts Division Three A, going down by five wickets at home against Knebworth Park 2s.

It was Redbourn’s first loss in five games. They remain joint top with Allenburys and County Hall, who have won four on the bounce after dropping their opening game of the season.

Redbourn went into the game averaging 213 runs when batting first and opted to put Knebworth in the field after winning the toss.

Jack Dyer (10) was caught out early, with the score on 12, but Dave Irwin (27) and George Naismith (31) led an assault on the bowling to put 61 runs on the board for the second wicket.

A large portion came from extras as Knebworth’s loose bowling gifted Redbourn an extra 39 runs during the inning.

The rest came from the bat of Darren Bissell, in at number seven. His 28 was the hosts’ second highest score and provided the majority of the runs in the middle and lower orders as too many batsmen went for single figures.

Ryan Skeggs (54) started Knebworth’s chase of 163 confidently, scoring a half-century in partnerships of 63 with Shaun Robinson (32) and 40 with Archie Stephens (40*) before Dan Darvell (3-26) trapped him LBW.

Skeggs was the fourth wicket to fall, followed by Edward Wright (0), both with the score on 134, but Stephens saw Knebworth to victory in a one-side partnership with Danny Digweed (2*).