Washed out

Late afternoon rain put paid to Stevenage's run chase against Hertford in their first home league match of the season.

They were 103-3 after 30 overs as they chased down Hertford's 191-9.

Stevenage showed a positive attitude on the field and a desire to move the game forward after two rain breaks.

Having lost the toss, Stevenage were asked to field but quickly had Hertford in trouble.

Gareth Berg had Hertford opener Riddle dropped by Syed Ali Kazmi at first slip without a run on the board.

At the other end, Tanweer Sikandar was getting prodigious swing and consistently beat the bat of former Stevenage player Krish Canagasabey.

It was some exceptional outfielding by Gary Brown that made the initial breakthrough, completing a diving stop on the third man boundary and launching a fast throw over the stumps leaving Canagasabey short of his ground in attempting a third.

Riddle was removed by Ali Kazmi just two runs later to leave Hertford wobbling on 19-2 from 15 overs.

A further two dropped catches, before the score had reached 40, proved in hindsight to be the difference between the competitive 191-9 that was posted and a score that Stevenage would have fancied chasing down well before the rain set in.

Cavener was the main beneficiary and made the most of his life striking the ball beautifully in a well-made 77, although Cordingley also contributed an essential 26 in an 87-run third wicket partnership having been dropped when on nought.

Apart from a hard-hit 37 by Carlson, Hertford's lower order were cleaned up by Ali Kazmi who completed 23 overs and took 6-69.

The second rain break of the day came at the end of Hertford's innings.

This was the worst possible time for Stevenage because it meant that the number of overs available to them to chase the total was reduced with no amendment to the target. This left Stevenage with 13 fewer overs to bat than Hertford received.

For the second time in succession, skipper Dave Carr and Brown put on a half-century opening partnership and did so at the required run rate of just above four runs an over.

With the score on 84, Carr was the first wicket to fall, trapped leg before by Canagasabey for 46, and he was followed back to the pavilion soon afterwards by Ali Kazmi who was superbly caught in the deep by a diving Carlson.

Brown (41) kept the scoreboard ticking over with Sikandar and took the total to 103 before becoming Canagasabey's second wicket, minutes before the rain finally forced the game to be abandoned as a draw.

The second team match at Hertford was off, while the thirds went down by 26 runs at Hatch End 2nds.

Paul Brewer took 5-30 off 16 overs as the home side made 134-8 off their 53 overs. Stevenage fell to a disappointing 108 all out in reply.

The fourth team were struggling at 41-3 off 25 overs against Watton-at-Stone 2nds when the rain intervened for the final time. Six dropped catches enabled their opponents to reach 149 all out. Star man with the ball was Simon Wood with 5-30 in 12.4 overs.