Batting Collapse as 1st Xi Narrowly Lose to Leaders Radlett

With time running out on an already shortened season, Ben Cowell’s side were hopeful of making a statement against one of the league’s top sides.

After a week and a half of persistent rain the wicket at Balls Park was much greener than one would expect for mid-August and promised some assistance for Hertford’s seam attack. The Hertford skipper won the toss and put the visitors into bat with the hope of taking some early wickets.

Radlett opener Josh De Caires looked to be positive early on despite the slightly two-paced nature of the wicket and punished some overpitched deliveries from the Hertford bowlers. However, the opening pair of Andrew Knight and Sam Davis found their rhythm and put the pressure back on Radlett with some disciplined bowling.

Knight was rewarded first for his skilful mix of away swing and cutters with proved to be too much for Radlett’s openers. After a straightforward chance was put down in the infield, Alan Jones hung on to his first and most straightforward catch of the day at mid-off to remove De Caires for 29. Davis then snuck through the defences of Fraser Crawford to clean bowl the Radlett number 3, before Knight gave the same treatment to Alex Cook to reduce the visitors to 46-3.

The home side were even more jubilant when Knight and Jones teamed up again to remove Chris Arul for 0 shortly afterwards. This time the chance was not so straightforward, with Jones putting in a full-length dive to cling onto the catch.

Cowell then turned to spin with the introduction of youngsters Max Lawrance and Tom Orchard. Both continued the fine work of the pacemen and bowled with considerable control and threat. Lawrance was rewarded with the wickets of the Radlett skipper Tom Jenkins for 10 and Abhay Hirani for 15, whilst Orchard removed Randeep Sanghera for 7 to cap off an impressive first appearance of the year.

At the other end, Kabir Toor had been accumulating steadily against the spin duo whilst punishing the occasional bad delivery. As Radlett looked to pick up the scoring towards the end of the innings Toor was caught behind off the bowling of James Leather for a well-played 58.
The visitors tail managed to push them up towards a competitive total with 21 from Rahil Thapar and 10 from youngster Noah Cornwell which included a towering six back straight back over the head of bowler Sam Davis. By the time Leather had removed the last two batsmen, Radlett’s innings ended with a score of 189 all out from 44 overs.

Pleased with their work in the first half of the game, the Hertford side were positive about their chances of victory and knew that if the same level of discipline could be shown in the second half then the odds were in their favour.

The home side’s innings started positively with Will Ray and first team debutant Martyn Chandler looking comfortable against Radlett’s opening attack of Sanghera and Cornwell. The pair progressed the score to 43 with a combination of strong front and back foot play until the introduction of the leg spin of Toor brought the dismissal of Chandler who was bowled for 22.

Jones joined Ray at the crease and looked at ease against the spin of Toor, hitting two straight sixes to make his way to 20. It was at this point that the Hertford innings took its first big turn. Anthony Hill, possibly learning from watching the off cutters of Andrew Knight in the first innings, removed Jones with a ball that gripped and came back through the gate and hit the stumps. Next ball, the other Hertford debutant Alex Agedah was stumped following a clever piece of work from Radlett skipper Jenkins. That brought in Max Lawrance for the hattrick ball and Hill was on the money again, bringing the ball back in and slamming into the front pad. The umpire agreed that it looked adjacent and the visitors were ecstatic.

The hattrick had swung the game back into Radlett’s favour and they were enjoying a period of dominance. It was only with the arrival of the Hertford captain Ben Cowell at the crease that the game started to swing back into Hertford’s control. Cowell launched the counter-attack brilliantly, showing that we hasn’t afraid to go over the top against both the spinners and the quicker bowlers. He proved to be a great foil for Will Ray, who was still steadily accumulating and brought up a well deserved half century.

Hertford were closing in on the victory total and required only another 30 runs when Ray was dismissed by the returning Cornwell for 64. The level of anxiety began to increase when Cornwell also dismissed Sam Davis LBW for 5. 18 runs were needed with 3 wickets remaining. James Leather looked to ease those nerves and punished two leg stump half volleys from Sanghera to reduce the runs required to single figures. However, Sanghera struck back, hitting a good line and length to find the edge of Leather’s bat.

With skipper Cowell still at the crease, Hertford were confident that the final 8 runs would come. However, after taking a single early in the next over Cowell was left to watch with despair as the left armer Cornwell first bowled Tom Orchard and then trapped number 11 Andrew Knight in front to snatch victory away from the home side, finishing with the impressive figures of 4-35.

After congratulating the opposition on a narrow victory, Hertford were left to reflect on what might have been. The defeat will prove a valuable learning opportunity for the young Hertford side who will hope to see the game home when presented with a similar position in the future.