Preston stunned league leaders and title favourites Bishop s Stortford by 58 runs. They won the toss and batted, making steady progress to reach 82-1 by the 24th over. With the dismissal of opener Chris Cole for an elegant 49, Preston lost six wickets for

Preston stunned league leaders and title favourites Bishop's Stortford by 58 runs.

They won the toss and batted, making steady progress to reach 82-1 by the 24th over.

With the dismissal of opener Chris Cole for an elegant 49, Preston lost six wickets for just 27 runs in 12 overs to find themselves in trouble at 110-7 by the 39th over. A vital 26-run last wicket partnership saw them dismissed for 151 in 49.5 overs.

Preston opted to take the old ball, with Indika making his first team debut supporting the evergreen Mark Waters.

At the halfway stage, Preston were well on top with Stortford only on 37-2, relying heavily on their impressive Aussie batsman Dave Orange.

With the run rate increasing every over, Preston started to pick wickets up at regular intervals. Both Indika (20-10-29-5) and Waters (21-9-53-3) bowled exceptionally well in tandem to help set up victory.

With the dismissal of Orange for an excellent fifty in the 37th over, Stortford decided to bat out the remaining 13 overs for a draw.

An excellent piece of bowling from spinner Dave Fleckney saw Preston take their ninth wicket in the 47th over, and it was left to Anthony Ender to clean bowl Thomas for a 32-ball duck to wrap up victory.

The seconds tied with their Boxmoor counterparts in Division Six.

Preston were satisfied with their total of 207-9 in 53 overs to secure maximum batting points. A swashbuckling 76 from John Garnham, 42 from Matt Burleigh and a rapid unbeaten 22 from Srini led the way.

In reply, Boxmoor reached 132 before losing a wicket, Ben Burrows sending both openers back to the pavilion in the same over.

Srini then dominated, taking 7-36 to skittle his way through the rest in his second spell, leaving the final scalp for Casey Walker with the scores level.

* Preston went down by four wickets against Brondesbury in the Chess Valley League on Sunday, in a game that was won by the toss.

With Preston asked to bat first on a minefield of a wicket they struggled to 133 all out, with only Indika (44) making a significant contribution with the bat.

The wicket began to dry out due to the improving weather conditions and Brondesbury reached their target six down in 42 overs.

The seconds entertained a strong St Albans West Indies.

The visitors took first knock and rattled 233-5, Sittol making a fine century with Bob Hearne picking up a couple of wickets.

Simon Luxton hit a well-made 34, Steve Terretta a fine 27 and Chris Newell a gritty undefeated 40 as Preston finished on a respectable 156-5 against some decent bowling with the honours shared.