Preston have confirmed their Herts Cricket League Championship status for another season - on the back of a comprehensive victory away to Dunstable Town.

The 215-run success means they cannot be caught by the bottom two and can instead plot a top-half finish.

They elected to bat after winning the toss and went on a destructive rampage from the off.

Opener Ed Wharton clobbered 111 in just 86 balls, including 17 fours and and two sixes and not to be outdone by his vice-captain, skipper Jake George, in at number three, also crafted a century with 102.

Justin Powick also made a significant runs with 84 as Preston closed on a whopping 318-9.

In reply, Dunstable barely made any significant dent in the score as Preston's Australian opener, Jack Bermingham, bowled with menace and took home 4-32 from his 10 overs.

He was well supported by Wharton (3-34) and Luke Marsden (2-13) while Max Anderson took 1-19.

The seconds had a very peculiar game v Stevenage in Division Four B, eventually securing a 96-run victory.

They had shown tremendous mettle having been in real trouble at 36-6 before going on to finish on 161-9.

That was down to a gritty and patient innings from Ashley Catlin (38) and a decent 32 not out from Casey Walker at number nine.

The Preston attack then went about their business with 6-24 in 10 overs from Mark Waters key to Stevenage falling to just 65.

He was aided and abetted by two wickets each for Oliver Gallimore and Catlin.

Preston's thirds lost to Pinner, They made 143-9 with a typically patient 40 from Amit Rajani supported by 28 from Luke Ponder.

That left the door open and Pinner strode through it for the loss of five wickets in the 36th over.

Preston youngster Will McIntosh bowled well with 2-20 while Josh Ashby had figures of 2-2. The loss leaves Preston 7th in Div 8 West.

The fourths were also beaten, losing by three wickets to Wheathampstead.

They had made a healthy 172-8 from their 40 overs, young Oscar Dunham-Welch making a sensible 39 with Dillon Beattie supporting on a decent 27.

The Preston bowlers did take wickets but Wheato got over the line in the 39th over. 

There was another Preston demolition job on Sunday in the Beds league with a 130-run victory against Letchworth.

Preston batted first at Whitethorn Lane and amassed a massive 335-8 off their 40 overs -Wharton (46), Chackraborty (67), Gallimore (27), Faleel (27) all making runs at the top of the order.

Jack Bermingham did the real damage though in at number seven with 114 from only 35 balls and in 44 minutes.

That included 10 fours and 10 sixes.

In reply, Letchworth made 205, ending their innings in the 34th over.

Letchworth's first team are all but relegated following a seven-wicket loss at Welwyn Garden City.

David Sprittles top scored with 47 as they made 147 batting first at Digswell Park but the home side breezed to victory inside 27 overs.

Hitchin find themselves in the odd situation of still battling to avoid the drop from Division One - yet are more likely to be promoted.

They sit sixth after a four-wicket win over St Margaretsbury, 43 points above the bottom two.

However, they are only 12 points off second-placed Leverstock Green and a mere 31 off leaders Reed in a fascinatingly tight promotion race.

Luke Day took 3-16 as Hitchin bowled their visitors out for 132 before an unbroken partnership of 43 for the seventh wicket from Toqeer Hussain (33*) and Musa Ilyas (22) steered them to victory.

Stevenage's four-wicket win over second from bottom Watford Town means they are slightly nearer safety in Division Two A.

Sean Tyler took 5-37 while there was 72 from Kawalpreet Singh and 51 for James Thompson in reply.

Knebworth Park's winning run and faint hopes of promotion from Division Two B came to end when they lost by 16 runs to WGC seconds.

Park's game was off colour from the early stages and they missed catches as the visitors started brightly before being bowled out for 187.

Charlie Randall bagged 2-29 and Dave Roberts 2-22 while Kobie Richmond managed 4-45.

In reply they struggled against good sustained pace bowling before Louis Champion (49) almost salvaged a win.

He was the ninth wicket to fall as they were dismissed for 171 with Olly Hewitt's 4-37 the pick of the WGC bowling.

Knebworth seconds are now fifth in the table and 11 points from promotion after defeating Stevenage thirds by 60 runs.

A 79-run opening partnership between Mark Woods (83) and James Hobbs (32) set the tone and was followed by 28 from Ian Pickering.

They fell away late on to finish on 213-9.

Stevenage got off to a fast start in reply but Knebworth got into their stride and starting to chip away at wickets.

Hobbs took 3-36 while Rob Burnell claimed the last four scalps to finish on 5-27, leaving Stevenage all out for 153 after 32 overs.

The thirds had a bad day, only managing 84 as they were beaten by nine wickets at Potton, while the fourths battled hard but lost by seven wickets to Bengeo.

Paul Matthews top scored with 58 while there was 32 for Ahmed Abdi as Knebworth made a decent 173-6.

Ian Murrill, Lewis Fung and Drew Myles each took a wicket but Bengeo took advantage of their wickets in hand, to reach their target with four overs to spare.

Ickleford gained a comprehensive 177-run victory over Hemel Hempstead in Division Three A.

They had a good start batting, adding 67 for the first wicket thanks to 48 from George Crouch and 26 for Axel Morris.

A collapse followed, dropping them to 97-6, but Charlie Jupp (75 not out) and Archie McIntosh (42) built a brilliant partnership of 102 to give Ickleford a respectable 231-8.

Hemel then had no answer to a great spell of bowling by Eswar Krishnamurthy who picked up a remarkable 6-6, with six maidens in his 10 overs bowled.

That left Hemel on 32-6 and they were eventually all out for 54, Thomas Brown and Nadeem Akhtar each taking two wickets.

The seconds got their best score if the season, 257-7, but it was not enough to beat St Margaretsbury.

Sam Giggle hit a swashbuckling 60 and there was a pair of 63s for Mark Schumann, his unbeaten, and Richard Brown with the pair putting on 120 for the seventh wicket.

St Margaretsbury also lost early wickets, with Scott Crouch striking three times and Leo Chan and Brown once each, but opener Van Rensburg was dropped six times on his way to 130 not out, seeing them home with overs to spare and five wickets down.

The thirds were well beaten by Letchworth fourths at a warm Fairfield Park.

Winning the toss, Letchworth elected to bat on a good pitch and after an early breakthrough, Ickleford struggled to stem the flow of runs across the fast outfield.

Graham Scholtz scored an unbeaten 116 as the home side got to 238-5 in their 40 overs with the pick of the Ickleford bowlers being Scott Dalrymple on 2-36.

In reply, Ickleford's top order felt the scoreboard pressure and slumped to 22-4 before Henry Brown scored an entertaining 53 with two sixes and eight fours, completing partnerships of 36 with Mark Nunneley and 37 with Mark Howard.

His innings ended with a run out and despite some late hitting by Dalrymple, Ickleford were bowled out for 132 in the 28th over to lose by 106 runs.

Datchworth meanwhile stay third in the division with a four-wicket win over St Albans.

Kieran Atkinson took 3-21 and T Butler 3-25 as the Clarence Park hosts were bowled out for 126.

And while they lost six wickets, they reached the target in the 41st over to stay 28 points behind Bushey, who they host on Saturday.