Stortford 195-2

Letchworth 194-7 dec

Stortford won by eight wickets

(Home Counties East League premier division)

DARREN WITTINGHAM starred for Bishop's Stortford as they picked up their first Home Counties East League premier division win of the season against visitors Letchworth on Saturday.

The Cricketfield Lane side strolled to victory by a comfortable eight-wicket margin with down-under all-rounder Wittingham, a 19-year-old Australian spotted by Stortford players touring New South Wales in the winter, giving a fine performance with both bat and ball.

Letchworth batted first and managed a total of 194-7, Wittingham using his right-arm seam to good effect with three wickets.

In reply, Stortford lost two early wickets but recovered superbly as Wittingham and Steve Burrow both made unbeaten 70s. They reached their target of 195-2 with two overs to spare.

Skipper Ben Debenham said: 'In the end it was fairly tight but we always looked like making the runs. Darren Wittingham is clearly a very talented player. It's always good to get the first win of the season on the board and hopefully we can build on that.'

Stortford, who drew their opening game against West Herts the previous week, have the chance to concentrate fully on their league campaign as they were knocked out of the National Cup at the second round stage at Stanmore on Sunday.

The home side batted first in the 45 overs-apiece contest and scored 168-6. Stortford fielded well to run three Stanmore players out.

Good bowling performances came from Charlie Bannister and Gareth Lindop, another promising youngster starting his first season for the Hertfordshire side.

The pitch deteriorated as the match wore on and Stortford struggled to score runs quickly. They eventually completed their allotted overs with 140-9 to lose by 28 runs.