Old Albanians dropped to second in the SHL Division Two table after losing to Preston at Woollams on Saturday.

Unsurprisingly, after morning rain, OAs were asked to bat first. Ghulam Rasool (42) and Joe Regan (22) put on 42 for the first wicket before the latter was caught, sparking a bad spell which saw OAs reduced to 62-5 at drinks

Rasool survived and together with Tom Lincoln (37) they steadied the ship, although they were unable to accelerate the score in the last 10 overs as the innings ended on 133 all out.

OAs began well in the reply, with Naseer Ahmed and Mozammel Hayat regularly beating the bat and rending Preston virtually strokeless as they lost two wickets by the time 10 were on the board and managed only 20 runs in the first 16 overs.

James Stevens scored 50 off 122 balls, and perhaps the key moment of the chase came in the 37th over when he was dropped at gully on 51 with the score at 101-5.

Two more wickets fell but a rapid 20 from Max Anderson saw him wrap up the win with Stevens (62).