ST ALBANS remain rooted to the bottom of the top division after a 74-run loss to Old Finchleians at Clarence Park on Saturday.

Having been asked to field first, St Albans made early inroads, removing openers Matt Fletcher and Mayur Depala for 10 and 0 respectively.

The key moment of the innings came in the opening exchanges, too. Number three Chetan Depala jnr was dropped before he had scored a single run, and it proved to be vital as he went on to make an unbeaten 136.

After a controversial decision to declare after 49 overs, St Albans were left requiring 222 for victory.

Daniel Rosson (2-24) and Gareth Oakley (2-79) snared a brace each while Mark Telkman (1-45) took the other wicket.

St Albans’ response started excellently, led by the explosive Mo Mansoor, who scored 46, including seven boundaries. However, when Mike Curtis showed great sportsmanship in light of Broadgate, walking off after having edged a ball to the keeper, the middle order disintegrated, leaving St Albans in a perilous position.

The stubborn blocking of Telkman and Rosson could not prevent St Albans being all out for 147 with three overs remaining.

Final score: St Albans (147) lost to Old Finchleians (221-5) by 74 runs

• The seconds batting line-up performed excellently away at Potton, making 250-3 of 53 overs. Grant Garveth and debutant Ben Moody scored 43 and 66 respectively, but the star of the show was fielding extraordinaire, Michael Goodfellow, who made an unbeaten 98.

The bowling outfit failed to perform to the standard of the batting unit, and Potton took advantage of helpful batting conditions to reach 251-5 with an over to spare. Ramsay, Telkman, Vijender and Umar took wickets in the bowling effort.

• The thirds beat Botany Bay thanks to a five-wicket haul from Ed Bottoms and strong batting from Andy Rudlin (66no), Toby Crisp and Souvikk Patra (37).

• The fourth clinched their first victory of the season away at Hatfield and Crusaders. After batting first and making 165 – Huzefa Kanchwala (45no) top-scored - Robert Still (4-37) and the youthful off-spinner of Tom Pate (4-31) bowled excellently to ensure that Hatfield fell 13 runs short of the total.