HCPL Division Two (East) Harpenden 212-6 (54) North Mymms 214-5 (48) DESPITE a 64 for Adam Winchester and 67 for skipper Mike Howard, Harpenden fell to a five-wicket defeat at North Mymms on Saturday. Winchester put on 37 for the first wicket with Willia

HCPL Division Two (East)

Harpenden 212-6 (54)

North Mymms 214-5 (48)

DESPITE a 64 for Adam Winchester and 67 for skipper Mike Howard, Harpenden fell to a five-wicket defeat at North Mymms on Saturday.

Winchester put on 37 for the first wicket with William Jones but when he fell for 13, he was soon followed by William Spencer without the score being added to.

Sulaman Qadir came to the crease and took the score to 88 before he fell for 26. This brought Howard in and he and Winchester added another 53 before Winchester was run out. Howard was next man out with the score on 183-5 which became 183-6 when Stewart was caught and bowled by Saxby.

Bates and Keenleyside saw the innings out with some quick hitting but the total of 212-6 didn't look to be enough.

Harps got off to a good start with the ball, Peck and Arnold picking up a wicket apiece to leave Mymms on 16-2 but then Bamford and Rawle put on 91 for the third wicket before Absalom claimed both wickets. Qadir took one more but Carter (59) and Sarwar (25) saw Mymms home on 214-5.

l In a rain-affected match, Harpenden II strolled to victory against Hemel Hempstead in Division Three.

Hemel chose to bat first but were restricted to just 135-8 from their 44 overs. Peter Makower was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 29, followed by Chris Roe with 3 for 50 and Simon Murray's 2 for 37.

In reply, the opening three batsmen all got starts before falling cheaply but 48 from Deshan Karunaratne and an unbeaten 37 from keeper Graeme Sprowson saw Harps home on 138-5 from 36.5 overs.

l Harpenden III also recorded a comfortable win in Division Four against Botany Bay. Skipper Rupert Garrett chose to bat first and reached 204-7 off their 48 overs, thanks largely to a fine 92 not out from Jake Pankhurst.

Botany Bay then crumbled to just 96 all out in 43.4 with Mark Hoefield picking up an impressive 4 for 14. Paul Wadhams took for 2 for 25, Rupert Garrett 2 for 11 and Tom Cupello 1 for 4.

l Kings Langley II narrowly claimed victory over Harpenden IV in Division Seven.

Skipper Mark Bashford inserted Langley and they were restricted to just 185-9 of 48 overs, Ian Moxon Booth picking up three wickets, Sam Boothby two and Neil Mackey and David Robinson one apiece.

In reply, Harps fell just short on 175 all out, despite innings of 33 each from David Byrne and Sam Boothby.

l In another rain-affected match, Harpenden V just failed to claim victory against Waltham Cross Rosedale IV in an exciting match.

Harps were put in to bat and reached 130-4 from their 37 overs, with Andy Elledge finishing on 49 not out and Guy Watts hitting 36.

Waltham Cross came close to both winning and losing as they ended on 128-9, Ben Rogers claiming 3 for 32 for Harpenden.