Hertford 4th XI Beat Cheshunt Rosedale

The 4th team, having been humbled by Great Gaddesdon the previous week travelled to Wormley to play Cheshunt Rosedale 3rds. The wicket looked damp after more midweek rain so Rich Eaton, captaining once again decided to bowl first.

Openers Gardner and Marnoch bowled steadily but without much luck as the ball moved around a little. Both openers looked decent until Gardner bowled one of them when he strangely swung across the line. A run out saw off the other opener as Marnoch, Ahl and Riddle all combined and to leave the batsman well short.

Shiva and Benham bowled steadily through the middle of the innings, particular note for Shiva who bowled his 9 overs in a row, just going for 26. Matt Ahl and Stu McIntyre really made the difference though. Firstly Matt who bowled 8 overs for just 8 runs picking up a wicket along the way and was exceptional. Stu swung the ball and returned excellent figures of 3-18. Marnoch returned at the end of the innings and picked up a couple of wickets but Waltham Cross had never really got on top of the Hertford bowling. They finished on 150- 9 off their 45 overs which felt a few short.

Steve Page and Graeme Riddle opened the batting for Hertford and looked solid, Page in particularly aggressive form as he despatched the bad balls. They both put on over 50 for the first wicket which was critical to break the back of the run chase. Eventually Riddle chipped one up for 20 as did Page for an excellent 41. Oran Riddle was unlucky in being run out by a great throw which left Marnoch and Eaton at the wicket. Marnoch displayed strong defence and Eaton a typical mix of swiping, blocking and more swiping. When Eaton went for 19 and less than 20 to win the game looked safe however a slight wobble with veteran Raj Patel and George Gardner both going for ducks brought Dave Benham to the crease and tailenders Ahl and McIntyre scurrying to get their pads on!

They weren’t needed though as some stout defence from Benham and Marnoch waited for the bad balls to take us over the line with a handful of overs left for 6 wickets. Marnoch finished on 40 not out and batted beautifully – the opposition were very keen to point out that he looked more like a Love Island contestant than a cricketer and were desperate to ‘dump him’ from the island however it appears that at the end he ‘coupled up’ effectively with Dave Benham to bring home the 30 points.

Next week the team travel to Bushey having beaten them in the season opener in very wet conditions!

Author: Richard Eaton