Wheathampstead picked up a vital 30 points against fellow strugglers Baldock in their race for survival in SHL Division Two.

Bottom of the table Baldock won the toss and elected to bat. Nick Martin was back into the opening attack and debutant Ehsan Mahmod, 17, joined him with the new ball and he was unlucky not to pick up a wicket as one of a hatful of catches were put down.

Martin made a breakthrough in the 10th over, bowling the young and then followed up with a caught and bowled.

Martin switched to his slower attack and Keith Martin bowled a magnificent 14 overs and picked up four wickets for just 44 runs. He was backed up by the equally impressive Yasir Ali, who got three wickets in his 8 overs while giving away just 27 runs.

The last wicket was taken by Nasser Munir, picking up a stumping from his second ball as Baldock were all out for 132.

Pete Griffiths and Yasir Ali Hashmi Muarif opened the batting for Wheathampstead and put on 67 for the first wicket.

Matt Corran was bowled first ball but Griffiths reached 55 very quickly before being stumped. Ibrar Walayat came to the crease and reached 18 before holing out in the deep.

Ledger and Steve Booth were out cheaply and Keith Martin’s golden duck left Wheathampstead on a worrying 98-7.

Another defeat looked on the cards until Yasir Ali Hashmi, in at seven, played a very steady innings, playing some nice shots without offering any chances to the opposition and was supported extremely well by Martin at nine.

Hashmi finished unbeaten on 20 and Nick Martin on 15 to see Wheathampstead home to their fourth win of the season.

With two games left, two wins will see Wheathampstead stay up.