AN UNBEATEN 76 from Matt Howeson steered St Albans to victory against Northampton Exiles.

Having been set a target of 199 and lost Sandipan Chandi (6) early, Howeson and Mo Mansoor (41), who hit six fours and two sixes, set about chasing the total.

When Mansoor was caught, Jamie Flemming (25) replaced him and pushed the score up to 110 before his dismissal. A 35 from Grant Carveth had St Albans on the cusp of victory before he was caught, leaving Howeson and Matthew Ingram (5no) to seal the win.

Earlier in the day, having chosen to bat, Northants were staring down the barrel of the gun at 17-4. However, two centuries from Amar Patel and Praveen Anthony, gave them hope but poor run calls resigned them to a low total, and defeat.

Final Score: St Albans 2s (200-5) beat Northampton Exiles (199-9) by five wickets.

• The 3s season began with a crushing victory over Letchworth Garden City.

Bowling first Christian Hay (2-25) and David Hancock (4-29) quickly found their rhythm. The innings was finished off by Rupert Warren (2-3) and Harsha Karunanavake (1-15), bowling Letchworth out for 74.

In response, Manny Nisar (31no) cruised St Albans to an eight-wicket win.

• The 4s lost to Mill Hill, but there were plenty of positives to take away from the game. Batting first Clive Maynard (31), Faz Nisar (40) and Andy Saunders (20) set St Albans up for a score of 144. Mill Hill reached the target with five wickets to spare. Zach West (2-24) was the pick of the bowlers with Tom Townend, Faz Nisar and Huzefa Kanchwala all picking up a wicket.