Welwyn Garden City were left wondering how they managed to lose against Hertford in their Saracens Herts Premier League match on Saturday.

After a strong start with the bat, they were pegged back by the hosts, who went on to win by seven wickets as Welwyn dropped to eighth place, five points above the relegation zone.

Put into bat in bowler-friendly conditions, Welwyn lost Matt Hill without score in the third over and saw Mo Rizvi retire hurt after being hit on the finger by Ben Orchard.

Dylan VD Westhuizen and Owais Shah repaired the damage to leave Welwyn 134-1 off 34 overs at lunch, but lthey ost VD Westhuizen for a career high 67 off 122 balls three overs after the restart.

Only 44 runs were scored in 15 overs after the break, but Welwyn were well placed at 184-2 when Shah was caught on the boundary for an impressive 88 off 118 balls, having hit three sixes and nine fours.

Six more wickets fell for 49 in the last 10 overs as Welwyn closed on 233-9, with Connor Emerton and Jason Lewis run out and the returning Rizvi caught on the rope for a hard-fought 44 off 82 balls.

Fayaz Homyoon (3-57) finished as the pick of Hertford's attack and then put on 110 with opening partner Hugh Cavener in just 20 overs.

WGC applied some pressure after tea, as a 21-over spell yielded just 48 runs and three wickets as Emerton, Aiden Watterson (1-48) and Simon Bridgewater (1-53) bowled with skill and accuracy.

Two brilliant pieces of fielding by Tom Whitton accounted for two of the wickets as an arrowlike throw from the boundary to Watterson save Cavener run out for 64 off 93 balls and a tumbling catch got rid of Homyoon for 80 off 124 balls.

Hertford were left needing 76 off the last 13 overs, but suffered no further alarms as Richard Leather (35 not out) and Eustance (45 not out) put on an unbroken 80 to seal victory with four overs to spare.

Shah took the LS Fabrications man of the match award for WGC, who will look to end a three-game winless run when they host fourth-placed Hoddesdon at Digswell Park on Saturday.