Radlett finished top of the table in the first Saracens Herts Premier Division and will have a home tie against Bishop’s Stortford when the play-offs begin on Saturday.

Jono McLean’s side beat second-placed Welwyn Garden City at Digswell Park by 45 runs to seal top spot in the league by 54 points.

And, they have head of steam heading into Saturday’s first round play-off tie after the top order fired on all cylinders and the bowling attack produced the goods against Jamie Hewitt’s Welwyn, which featured former England all-rounder Owais Shah.

Having opted to bat, Radlett’s opening pair, Fraser Crawford and Kabir Toor, set the foundation for a solid innings with a 118-run stand. Crawford was the man to go, caught by Alex Chalker, after hitting six boundaries, including one maximum, on his way to 55, his fourth half-century of the season.

Toor continued to find the gaps in the field until he was eventually caught by Hewitt, having scored 10 fours and a six on his way to an 88-ball 74.

Number four Shane Burger came and went for 10, with the board showing 176-3, but McLean and Joe Cooke continued in the same vein as the openers, scoring 59 and 43 not out respectively as Radlett finished on 267-6.

Welwyn’s reply centred on good knocks from four of the top six but other seven batsmen failed to reach double figures as Radlett produced an efficient display of bowling.

Martin James (0) and Louis Champion (7) fell early but the innings was rebuilt by Hewitt, Shah and Southgate. From 15-2, Shah and Hewitt took the score to 62 before the captain was bowled by Toor (3-48). Then, Shah and Southgate added 101 for the fourth wicket.

When Shah was clean bowled by Matt Creese (1-43) for 79, leaving the score on 166-6, the innings quickly unravelled as Alex Chalker (34) couldn’t find a partner that could stand up in the face of the bowling attack.

The last five batsmen added just 20 runs as Welwyn were bowled out for 222, Randeep Sanghera (3-38) taking the final wicket to leave the host’s 46 runs short of their winning target.