HARPENDEN second XI raced to an emphatic ten-wicket victory against Clarendon to move up into the top three in the Division Four table on Saturday, June 22.

Stand-in skipper Simon Arnold had an easy afternoon by winning the toss, putting Clarendon in to bat, and then needing to make no bowling changes as Rupert Garrett and Ian Booth carried out a demolition job with unchanged spells of 16 overs each.

Garrett hit the stumps for the first of his three wickets in the ninth over, and each time he took a wicket, Booth was inspired to take one almost immediately afterwards.

In between, Arnold secured a run-out with a direct hit from cover, and Clarendon found themselves at 48-7.

Booth then stepped up and cleaned up the tail by hitting the stumps four times in the space of three overs, conceding only one run in the process. His figures of 6-21 now brings his total of league wickets this season to 26 while Garrett finished on 3-27.

Harpenden's reply was short and sweet with Duncan Gilson (13 not out) and Mark Fordham (35 not out) having little difficulty in reaching the target in only 16 overs.

The team will surely be more tested on Saturday when they visit North Mymms second XI.

The Hatfield side have the added incentive of leap-frogging Harpenden into third place should they pick up maximum points at the Common.

June 27, 2002 12:00