Victory for ones in local derby, and a 1st win for the twos

Herts League Match reports for Sat 31/05/14

Preston secured a 3 wicket victory over local rivals Ickleford in an entertaining derby encounter in Herts Division 2.

Ickleford won the toss and elected to bat first, but were soon in trouble at 7 for 2 as Preston’s opening bowlers Mark Waters and Henry Morecroft picked up wickets inside the first 3 overs. A brilliant 119 run 3rd wicket partnership between Matt Bowyer (54) and Mark Schumann (92) then laid the platform for the visitors to obtain maximum batting points. However, Preston’s bowlers chipped away with the ball, taking wickets at vital intervals as they restricted Ickleford to 181 for 7 from their 53 overs. Peter Murrell (2 for 55) was Preston’s most successful bowler, ably supported by fellow spinners Andy Riant and Max Anderson.

Preston got off to an excellent start with the bat scoring at around 4 runs an over as they reached 82 for 1 by the 22nd over, with skipper Warren Hearne (48) leading the way in partnership with Callum Blair (29). However a flurry of wickets due to some poor shot selection saw Preston collapse to a precarious 110 for 7 by the 34th over. It was left to Ben Hill, with a stylish 55 not out, and Mark Waters (31 not out) to guide Preston to victory with a match winning 8th wicket partnership of 74 runs in just 11 overs.

Preston 2nd XI recorded their first league win of the season in Division 5, beating Wormley by 3 wickets in a thrilling low scoring game. Swing bowler Ollie Gallimore (4 for 40) was the pick of Preston’s attack as Wormley were dismissed for 105, with leg spinner Charlie Bruce also taking 3 for 15. Preston were soon finding the wicket as tough to bat on as their opponents, as they quickly collapsed to 22 for 4. Casey Walker (17) led a recovery of sorts but at 49 for 6 the match seemed lost. Then Iain Williamson (17) and Iain Purton (19 not out) dug in with a vital 44 run partnership, before Gallimore fittingly hit the winning runs.

Preston 4ths invited visitors Potton 2nds to take first knock on Saturday, and were quite pleased to contain them to 173-8 in 46 overs. Roger Hickman bowled unchanged throughout the innings taking 2-73 from 23 overs. Bob Hearne took 4-40 from a somewhat shorter spell. Preston had 44 overs to chase the total but were bowled out in 42 overs for 131. The only real resistance came from skipper Dave Saunders, who struck a hard hit 60.