A superb effort by the home groundstaff allowed for a 30-over-a-side contest and it was Hitchin who won the toss and elected to bat. They adopted an aggressive approach too so while there were consistent wickets, four ducks among the innings, there were also a huge amount of runs. Toqueer Hussain smashed 57 in just 38 balls while Saad Waqas got 28 and there was an important 32 from James Tilbury at number 10.
That got them to 187 and in reply, St Margaretsbury made a assured start. The run rate was always an issue though and they eventually limped to 147-8, 40 runs short. Hussain returned to be pick of the bowlers, claiming 4-16.
The only other game Hitchin managed to play was their fifths, also at St Margaretsbury and also ending in a victory. It was in essence a T20 match where the hosts made 112, James Moore getting 3-1 in 1.4 overs.
In reply Hitchin passed the total in the 18th over for the loss of four wickets, Cameron Carr being the batting mainstay with 52. Ickleford's only game saw their firsts produce an excellent performance to beat Hemel Hempstead in Division Three A. Their bowlers made a very good start and were led by Axel Morris with 2-16, all of which helped them hold Hemel to 141-5.
Ickleford paced their reply in exemplary fashion and there was a really good partnership of 74 between Eswar Krishnamurthy, who was unbeaten on 42, and Duncan Jenner who made 40. They provided the platform needed and Sadat Sheraz (10) and Sam Draper (30 not out) applied the acceler.
