Wheathampstead were beaten by Old Elizabethans in the final over of their Sarcens Herts Division Three A contest on Saturday.

Having set Old Elizabethans a target of 240 runs to win, Wheathampstead struck with the first ball of the innings. Their good fortune ran out there, though, as Rob Gibson and Saqib Parkar took the game away from the hosts.

Gibson survived a caught behind decision, the field appealing a ‘suspicious sound’, to score 111. Chris Martin ended his innings and also removed Parkar to give Wheathampstead a glimmer of hope.

On the whole, the Wheathampstead bowlers were expensive, with only the Corran brothers, Matt and David, going for less than four an over. With Old Elizabathans needed two runs off the final over, Wheathampstead turned to their England over-60 international Keith Martin. Fresh from taking two wickets against the Aussies, even his expertise wasn’t enough to prevent the loss.

Wheathampstead had put in their best batting performance for four games in Saturday’s loss.

Alistair Sykes scored 43 after putting up a century for the second wicket with Chris Martin. David Corran added 46 as he anchored the tail order before captain Sam Ledger declared on 239-7.

It was the first time Wheathampstead had topped 200 runs since May 23, but it wasn’t enough to earn the win.