SHL Division Seven Shenley Village II 171 drew with Redbourn II 165-8 REDBOURN II came close to snatching a dramatic and unlikely win against Shenley Village II but in the end had to settle for a draw. Bowling first, Redbourn took an early wicket with D

SHL Division Seven

Shenley Village II 171 drew with Redbourn II 165-8

REDBOURN II came close to snatching a dramatic and unlikely win against Shenley Village II but in the end had to settle for a draw.

Bowling first, Redbourn took an early wicket with Dan Thatcher taking his first scalp and, with Fiaz Ahmed bowling some hostile deliveries from the other end, Village did well to stay in the game.

Opener Willingham batted sensibly for 39 but was finally caught by Mauder off Ahmed.

George Naismith and Martin Benfield took a wicket each and at 83-4 could have pushed on for a Village collapse. Number five Evans was dropped on 15 and this proved crucial as we went on to score 65.

Redbourn continued to bowl well with Matt Lloyd's parsimonious spell of 10 runs off seven overs, Ahmed's 2-30, and Dan Thatcher who had another tremendous match taking 6-52 as Village were all out for 171.

With 49 overs Redbourn expected a victory but Village's openers Davenell and Shelley were bowling well.

Jack Dyer made a steady 18 but when Antony Mauder was dismissed for 23 they had collapsed to 55-4. Matt Gibbs smashed 24 off 23 balls but his dismissal led to another wicket fest and Redbourn staring at the jaws of defeat at 87-7.

Naismith and Benfield kept the score board ticking over and, as the overs ticked by, victory started to become possible again.

With 17 required off the last two overs Shelley (4-73) and Davenell (3-54) prevented Redbourn's attempts at victory. Naismith and Benfield finished on 38 and 37 respectively with Redbourn seven short of their target.

Skipper Mauder said: "We probably missed out on promotion today but you can spend too much time looking at the bigger picture and miss the finer details of life.

"This was a terrific cricket match played in good spirits, with three young players taking a staring role. I can see Jack, George, and Matt being a crucial part in next year's successful promotion campaign. I would also like to wish Jimmy 'The Terminator' Speirs all the best for his doss year in Australia."

REDBOURN played two games on Sunday, winning one and losing the other.

The home team took on the Outlaws and five wickets for Chris Godfrey helped dismiss them for 219, before 59 from Darren Bassill and an unbeaten 20 from youngster Alex Briggs saw Redbourn reach their target with four wickets and three overs to spare.

A young away team took on Harpenden Cavaliers and lost by four wickets.

Ben Roe's 37 was the highlight of Redbourn's 136 all out but despite three wickets from both Andy Finch and Jon Fleming, the Cavaliers reached their target with 18 overs in hand.