St Albans earned bragging rights over Hitchin in their Herts League Division Two A clash after a low-scoring encounter at Lucas Lane.

Put into bat, the visitors were in trouble at 4-2 and wickets continued to fall as they were dismissed for 114 in 37 overs.

Winfield (31) top scored, as Hall and Mabuza both made 20, while Sandeep Singh (3-21), Dave Moore (3-31) and Shaftab Khalid (3-32) took Hitchin’s bowling honours.

Simon White struck early in the home side’s reply, but Hitchin looked on course for victory at 85-3, when Mabuza dismissed Danny Fair three runs short of a half-century.

A collapsed followed as Mabuza (4-32) and White (4-14) combined to dismiss Hitchin for 103.

St Albans seconds also made 103 against Bentley Heath, as only James Rosson (41) made an impact.

Heath scored 24 runs in the first five overs in reply, before Ben McInnes (3-27) struck and they slipped to 57-5.

Amit helped himself to four wickets, but Heath got home with three wickets to spare.

The thirds visited Ware’s Sandpit Lane ground and put the nine-man hosts into bat.

After tight opening spells from captain Telkman and Baylis Jnr, St Albans saw their leading wicket-taker Murphy (1-17) make the breakthrough.

And the floodgates then opened as Hicks (4-11) and Watkins (3-17) combined in great style to skittle the hosts for 85.

St Albans saw Gemmill fall in the first over of their reply, but raced towards their modest target as Seagrave hit out in typically determined fashion, claiming a trademark six over mid-wicket.

Knill-Jones Jnr and Watkins sealed an eight-wicket win in just over 15 overs as St Albans moved 34 points clear of the relegation zone to raise hopes of a solid mid-table finish.

The fourths ensured their own safety with a 105-run win over Watford Town fifths.

Najib Khan (71) and Michael Martin (40) batted aggressively on a tricky pitch, as Jim Everdell hit two sixes and a four in his 24 from 10 balls in their 206-9.

Jim Everdell (1-7) and Christian Hay (1-31) made inroads in reply, although several catches were spilled, and Andy Saunders nabbed 3-25 as Town struggled.

Off-spinner Nick Ralfe (4-10) mopped up the tail as wicketkeeper Kevin Ralfe completed two stumpings.