Old Cholmeleians 195-7 Elstree 194 Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League Division Seven Elstree travelled to Old Cholmeleians on Saturday, on a high following their impressive display the week before.

On inspection of the track, it was clearly going to be a difficult day for batting. When Elstree lost the toss Old Cholmeleians captain had little hesitation in asking them to bat first.

With a cruel deliver that hardly bounced, Logan was the first victim of the day for just two. In came Elstree's skipper Dunn and in partnership with the flamboyant Dave Barnett they began to build a sizeable stand.

The fifty partnership came and went and Elstree looked set to record an impressive total. With the partnership on 83, Dunn (34) played a lazy shot to a ball down leg side and was unluckily bowled off his pads.

Barnett was joined by the hard hitting Chanaka and the score continued to mount with some mighty hitting from the Sri Lankan all rounder.

However, his excitement was to be short lived when he too received a low shooter only to be given out LBW on 16. Barnett was now nearing his fifty, but sadly fell three short after mistiming a straight drive. Elstree were now on 115-4, with plenty of overs to spare.

Sensible batting from Faizal and Rishan saw the score gradual move in the right direction. However when both were dismissed closely followed by Lee Digweed for a golden duck, Elstree's batting began to look in disarray Hisham and Ashad, knew they had to put some form of partnership together to build a competitive score.

Just as things started to improve Hisham, missed a straight delivery and was bowled. No further runs where added by Elstree's last two batsmen with a final score of 194 all out recorded.

Elstree knew they would need to take early wickets and take any chances which came their way. With Chanaka coming in off his full run for the first time this year, things looked rosy for the visitors, with two wickets in the opening over. However, Chanaka's day was to get much worse as the innings progressed.

At the other end Kenroy, struggled to find a line and length and this allowed the Old Cholmeleians' batsmen to settle and start playing some attacking shots. After a number of dropped chances, Elstree needed to stem the quick scoring and on came Graham Cane and Martyn Dunn.

Cane, bowled extremely tightly and got just reward with figures of 11-3-19-2. However, the events which occurred next will have repercussions for the rest of the season as Chanaka, desperate to break the ever menacing partnership which the Old Cholmeleian batsmen where accruing, made a heroic attempt to take an outfield catch.

The ball bounced tantalisingly short of the forward diving hand and to make matters worse it resulted in a broken collar bone for Chanaka.

This now left Elstree with just 10 players. However, the spirit within the ranks shone as a couple of wickets from Hisham (10-0-49-2) gave Elstree a small glimmer of hope, however with the Old Cholmeleians skipper at the crease and some sensible batting, Elstree were not going to make it two wins in a row. Old Cholmeleians got the winnings runs with seven overs to spare and finished on 195-7.

Elstree's captain Dunn said: "Chanaka is a pivotal player in the team and we will miss him over the next month or so. However, I am sure the lads will raise their game in his absence and despite this setback Elstree will continue to strive for a top three finish."

Elstree entertain Leverstock Green on Saturday at Aldenham Road. Match starts at 1:30pm.