Saracens Herts League Division 11 Old Albanian 3rds 170-8 Hatfield Crusaders 2nds 173-6 STAND-IN Hatfield Crusaders 2nds captain Clive Starr guided a depleted side to a four-wicket triumph against Old Albanian 3rds. Starr, the regular 3rd XI skipper, won

Saracens Herts League Division 11

Old Albanian 3rds 170-8 Hatfield Crusaders 2nds 173-6

STAND-IN Hatfield Crusaders 2nds captain Clive Starr guided a depleted side to a four-wicket triumph against Old Albanian 3rds.

Starr, the regular 3rd XI skipper, won the toss and decided to field first with the forecast of rain coming later.

He decided it would be best to see if Crusaders could bowl out Old Albanian quickly and then knock off the runs.

Crusaders opened the bowling attack with Aman Sofat and Dave Jewell.

It wasn't long before Jewell bowled Taylor for eight with the score on 12 and three overs later he hit the stumps of Old Albanian's other opener Perking for one.

A well-taken catch at mid-wicket by Umang Mathur gave Sofat his first wicket when he dismissed Strange on eight.

The visitors were 32-3 and things were looking good for the home side, but a 48-run partnership steadied the ship.

However, Starr came on and replaced Sofat and bowled Wagn for 20.

Starr struck again four runs later, this time bowling Davis with a slow ball for four.

Skipper Starr had Albanian captain Goodier (15) caught behind by wicketkeeper Luke Crane.

A 36-run partnership pushed the visitors' score up to 139 before skipper Starr bowled Cresswell for seven.

A sharp caught and bowled catch got rid of Davis (51) as Starr claimed his fifth wicket.

Old Albanian ended their innings on 170-8 from their 47 overs.

The pick of the bowlers was Starr with 5-51 from 14 overs.

The KGV wicket was cut at the end of the table, resulting in a short boundary one side and a fast outfield meant that the 171 target was very gettable from the allotted 43 overs.

Paul Stalin and Luke Crane opened with 10 runs coming from the first over.

Crane was the first to go, caught at mid-on for five.

Saad Butt was next in and put on 34 before being bowled for 21.

Sam Mathur came in and shared a 54-run partnership for the next wicket before he was bowled for 39.

Crusaders had pushed their total past 100 with seven wickets in hand.

Stalin was adjudged leg before for 37, including five fours, and Umang Mathur was caught at mid-on for four.

The hosts at this stage were 115-5.

Vishal Gawas was caught for nine 13 runs later and it was not looking so good for the Crusaders.

However, Bilal Quaiser and Aman Sofat then came together.

They put on an unbeaten 45-run partnership to see Crusaders win with 173-6 from 39 overs.