SHL Division 3 London Colney 228 v Letchworth II 111-3 - Match abandoned (rain) AFTER last week s reverse at Stevenage, London Colney entertained Letchworth II looking for a good result to get back to winning ways, only to see the weather put an end to a

SHL Division 3

London Colney 228 v Letchworth II 111-3 - Match abandoned (rain)

AFTER last week's reverse at Stevenage, London Colney entertained Letchworth II looking for a good result to get back to winning ways, only to see the weather put an end to a match that had every prospect of building to a fine finish.

After wining the toss Colney skipper Scott Hadley opted to bat and saw his faith in his batsman rewarded with an innings built round a fine 80 from opener Adam Buckmaster.

With runs from the skipper himself (43) Colney looked in a decent position at the mid-point of the innings but Letchworth II were able to strike back and it needed an attacking knock of 37 from Uzman Zaman down the order to lift Colney past the 200 mark.

Even so, their final total of 228 all out looked little better than par on a hard true batting wicket and a fast outfield, and would have taken a good effort in the field to defend.

Even from tea-time it looked as if the weather was going to have a say, as the skies darkened ominously and lightning played in the distance.

With the likelihood of a shortened game, Letchworth II set out as if they had somewhere else to be, and at 15 overs already had 111 on the board. Colney had kept at it however, and two wickets from Altaf Anwardeen and a strike from spinner Matt Bristow had swung the advantage back towards Colney, and at 111-3 the game looked finely balanced. The weather was not to be denied however as the murky gloom gave way to the rain, and the game was abandoned with just the 15 overs of the second innings bowled. Failure to win in the last two weekends sees Colney drop out of the promotion spots to fifth in the table.

With the season not yet half over, things are looking increasingly grim for London Colney II as another heavy defeat leaves them looking increasingly adrift at the wrong end of the table in Division Seven.

Away at Watford Town II, and with the advantage of first use of the wicket, they could only post a modest 170 all out, a total that was even more disappointing considering four of the top order got starts, with Joel Lambrick (20), Ady Fisher (34), Trevor Ray (18) and Selwyn Browne (27) all making runs.

Indeed, at 141-3 with 17 overs to go, Colney looked on for a big total, but the middle order and tail couldn't match the start.

Abdullah, currently captain of Tanzania, took 4-27 at the top of the innings but the real damage was done by left-armer McQueen who took 4-35 and wrapped up the innings.

With a relatively comfortable target to chase, Watford Town had the advantage of being able to lose a few wickets, and made sure the weather wasn't going to deprive them of their win by cracking along at over a run a ball right from the off.

Abdullah followed his bowling with 68*, supported by 65 for Uzman, and they were hardly inconvenienced by two wickets each for Simon Fretter and Connor Dow. In the end they chased the target down in just 27 overs for the loss of four wickets, beating the deluge by about 10 minutes, to record a well-deserved win against a side without a win since day one of the season, low on confidence and seemingly unable to buy a result from anywhere.