Bishop's Stortford v Broxbourne

Last season ended with a nerve-wracking win over division champions Broxbourne and we began our 2012 Herts campaign with a fine 7 wicket win over the same opponents.

Broxbourne won the toss and elected to bat. Debutant Harry Griffin opened the bowling with Bradley Moon, and the pair made Broxbourne's openers work hard for their runs. With Alex Brown coping well in his first stint as a wicket keeper, and some keen fielding, the score was 29-0 after 8 overs.

Skipper Alec Chappell then made the breakthrough, removing Beech (9) thanks to a catch by James Clark before yorking Hanley for 11. When he followed up by removing the dangerous Harrison Winter courtesy of a smart catch by Charlie Peace, Broxbourne were 46-3.

Peace then chipped in with the wicket of Southwill, and with Sam Gardner bowling a tight, hostile spell at the end of the innings, Broxbourne's 68 always felt a few runs short of a competitive total.

Bradley Moon then carried on where he left off on Sunday and struck a rapid 22 to turbo charge Stortford's reply. With Ryan Randall providing solid support at the other end, we got well ahead of the rate. By the time Randall (10) and Adam Crowther (4) fell, the win was a formality. Harry Griffin hit some nice shots in his 11 not out to see us home.

It was an excellent team perfomance, with everyone contributing to the win. A particular highlight came from James Clark, who seemed to literally catch fire in the outfield. Luckily he extinguished the flames with a perfectly executed stop, drop and roll.