CRICKET: Bicester close the gap in Cherwell League Division 4 with dramatic win

Going into the final two overs of the match, all results were possible, but youngster Dan Savin and veteran Trevor Price held their nerve to edge Bicester to a superb victory.

Table-topping Westbury opted to bat first, but got off to the worst possible start as Will Gurney fell for a third ball duck.

Tom Gurney started Westbury’s recovery with a fluent 53, while Ben Rae also looked in good form before falling for 35.

Chris De Kock was the pick of the Bicester attack, the leg-spinner taking 4-43 in 12.5 overs, while fellow ‘leggie’ Richard Simpson chipped in with 3-37 from 17 overs.

Westbury’s 171 all out appeared slightly below par, especially after Alastair Gibbins (33) and Nick Moorman (28) shared a half-century opening stand for Bicester.

But wickets began tumbling, the accurate Graham Judd taking 4-41 from 16 overs.

Simpson hit a quickfire 34 in 22 balls to ensure Bicester stayed in the game.

But with the home side still needing 12 runs to win going into the penultimate over with eight wickets down, young Savin, son of former Oxfordshire all-rounder Graham, drilled two cover drives for four.

It was then left to Price to hit the winning boundary with just six balls to spare to secure maximum points.

The result saw Bicester narrow Westbury’s lead to 13 points.

Bicester & NO 25 pts, Westbury 11

DIVISION 1

CUMNOR gave their Division 1 title hopes a massive boost after cruising to a seven-wicket victory at home to Aston Rowant 2nd on Saturday.

The victory moved Cumnor above Rowant back into second place, just 27 points behind Dinton, who they play in two weeks time.

But despite a fluent 69 from Richard Cook and a more sedate 39 from George Reid, Rowant managed only 193-9 in their 50 overs after choosing to bat first, as Andrew Russell took 3-45 for the hosts.

Cumnor lost opener Mark Farmer early, but 59 from Callum Russell, 45 not out from James Fitzjohn, 35 from Joe Dale and 33 not out from Alex Davies saw them home with seven overs to spare at 197-3.

l Cumnor 25pts, A Rowant 2nd 5

A superb century from Will Goodman was in vain for Tiddington, who fell to an agonising one-wicket defeat at Horspath 2nd to stay in the relegation zone.

Goodman hit a run-a-ball 125 – an innings containing 22 fours and a six – as Tiddington posted 246 all out in 46 overs. Tom King took 3-42 and Mark Skelton 3-44.

Tiddington would be made to rue not batting their overs, however, as Horspath reached 247-9 to seal a thrilling victory, Joe Todd making 84.

l Horspath 2nd 25, Tiddington 9

Banbury 2nd racked up a massive 315-3 as they thrashed Twyford by 100 runs.

Twyford put Banbury in to bat first, but then could only watch on as Justin Lambden hit 93, Will Hawtin 73 not out and Josh Megson 71 not out.

Twyford were never in the hunt as they fell for 215, Alex Shortt taking 5-49 and Jack Deal hitting 60 for the hosts.

l Twyford 5, Banbury 2nd 25

Dinton stay top after a 75-run win at Leighton Buzzard Town.

Ashley Smith (76) helped Dinton to 230 all out, before Faisil Ali took 5-15 as Buzzard fell for 155 in the 46th over.

l Leighton Buzzard Tn 7s, Dinton 25

Great Brickhill defeated visitors Long Marston by six wickets.

Zack Wade’s 55 saw Long Marston to a below-par 136, Hayden Simmonds taking 5-10.

Mark Nelson then hit 60 to lead Brickhill to 137-4 with more than 23 overs to spare.

l Great Brickhill 25, Long Marston 3

DIVISION 2

TOM Costley was the star of the show for Oxford Downs as he took career best figures of 7-53 to help his table-toppers to a crushing seven-wicket win at home to Sandford St Martin.

Sandford were shot out for 145 as Costley shone, Tom Goffe top-scoring with 51 for the visitors.

Costley was denied a hat-trick when the third wicket of a potential treble was chalked off due to a no-ball.

Downs needed just 36.2 overs to reach the target, Will Watts hitting 74 not out and Chris Sandbach 55.

l Oxford Downs 25pts,

Sandford St Martin 5

Ben Charlesworth celebrated his call-up for Oxon with the top score for Abingdon Vale, who thumped Wolverton by 128 runs.

Charlesworth made 51 in Vale’s 195-7, Wasim Fayyaz taking 4-47.

Paul White (5-11) and Dan Hartley (4-39) then skittled out the hosts for just 67.

l Wolverton Tn 3,

Abingdon Vale 25

Early pacesetters Challow & Childrey lost again, falling to a 17-run defeat at Great & Little Tew 2nd.

Henry Woodward (38) and Tom Price (34) helped Tew to 202 all out in their final over, George Trewby taking 5-61 for the visitors.

But the Brock brothers, Lawrence (4-37) and Lloyd (3-54), combined to dismiss Challow for 185.

l Great & Little Tew 2nd 25,

Challow & Childrey 8

Oxford 2nd moved off the foot after a 45-run win at home to Buckingham Town 2nd.

Harold Porter top-scored with 41 in Oxford’s 184-9.

Callum Biel then claimed 4-43 in Buckingham’s reply as they were bowled out for 139.

l Oxford 2nd 25, Buckingham 2nd 6

Cropredy eased to a six-wicket win at home to Oxford & Bletchingdon Nondescripts, who are now just eight points above the drop zone.

Ed Somerton (47) and Eli Heath (41) saw the hosts to victory at 139-4 after they had dismissed Nondies for 138, Patrick Somerton taking 4-39.

l Cropredy 25, Ox & Bletch 6

DIVISION 3

DIDCOT kept up the pressure on leaders Bledlow Village as they easily beat relegation-haunted Oxford Downs 2nd by seven wickets.

Downs struggled to 169-9 in their 53 overs, Jordan Morrison the pick of the home side’s attack, taking 3-43.

Elliot Matthews then scored 76 not out and Connor Morrison 55 as Didcot eased to 171-3 in the 40th over to wrap up victory.

l Didcot 25pts, Oxford Downs 2nd 6

Shipton-under-Wychwood 2nd’s Joe Cockroft played a match-winning hand as his side edged past hosts Tiddington 2nd by one wicket.

Paul Hemming had earlier claimed 6-46 as Tiddington were bowled out for 180, Jacob Davies top-scoring with 82.

Shipton were in trouble early on as they slumped to 2-3 with Russell Hayes, Tim Senior and Jason Hunt all falling for ducks.

Hemming (41) began the recovery, before Cockroft hit 53 not out to lead his side to the narrowest of victories, Patrick Knightley finishing with 4-48 and Ellie Noble 3-31.

l Tiddington 2nd 12, Shipton 2nd 25

Horley were denied victory by Great Brickhill 2nd’s last pair, despite racking up 272 all out.

David Taylor made with 97 and Steve Palmer hit 59 for Horley.

Pete Papenfus then claimed 4-54 in Brickhill’s reply, but they shut up shop to close on 184-9.

l Horley 20, Great Brickhill 2nd 8

Banbury 3rd edged out visitors Blewbury & Wallingford by three runs

The hosts were shot out for a paltry 68 in just 15.5 overs, only to skittle Blewbury for 65 in a remarkably low-scoring game.

l Banbury 3rd 25,

Blewbury & Wallingford 5

Leaders Bledlow Village marched on with a nine-wicket win at Cublington.

Bizarrely, Cublington decided to declare on 122-8 in the 30th over, Harry Bartlett taking 4-27.

Bledlow then took just 22.3 overs to ease home at 124-1 as Tom Moore hit 60 not out.

l Cublington 2, Bledlow Village 25

DIVISION 4

EAST Oxford’s promotion challenge suffered a setback as they fell to a 14-run defeat at Brackley.

Richard Burton took 3-38 and Atif Ali 3-46 as Brackley were bowled out for 171 in the 37th over, Michael Lowe top-scoring with 90.

East Oxford tried to bat with caution to reach the target, but were all out in the 43rd over for 157 as Josh Markham took 5-62 and Douglas Smith 4-51.

l Brackley 25pts,

East Oxford 7

Witney Mills’s good form continued after they saw off hosts Dinton 2nd by 57 runs.

Skipper Mike Dove hit 39 in Mills’s 212-7, Tyrone Burrows taking 4-41 for Dinton.

Seam duo Ben Madden (4-31) and Ollie Burney (3-41) then shone for Mills as they dismissed their hosts for 155.

l Dinton 2nd 5, Witney Mills 25

Oxford 3rd lost to basement boys Kimble by six wickets.

Usman Khan took 4-27 and Bradley Rose 3-21 to skittle Oxford out for just 108, Miles Picknett scoring 31.

Rose then hit 54 for the home side as they eased home at 109-4.

l Kimble 25, Oxford 3rd 5

Arshad Latif suffered a rare failure for Stokenchurch, who were soundly beaten by hosts Bletchley Town.

Kieran Turner top-scored with 65 in Bletchley’s 215 all out, Latif taking 6-10 for Stokenchurch.

But the big-hitting opener fell cheaply in Stokenchurch’s reply, which then crumbled to 67 all out as Sam Newman took 7-29.

l Bletchley Tn 25,

Stokenchurch 5

DIVISION 5

THAME Town 2nd stayed clear at the top of Division 5 after edging out visitors Kingston Bagpuize by three wickets.

George Woodley hit 54 for Kingston as they were bowled out for 180, Alastair Thomas taking 4-47.

James Adams then replied with 67 not out for Thame to steer his side to 182-7 in the penultimate over.

l Thame Tn 2nd 25pts,

Kingston Bagpuize 10

Abingdon Vale 2nd kept up the pressure with a crushing 145-run victory at home to Leighton Buzzard Town 2nd.

Batting first, Vale racked up 244 as Paul Butcher hit 64, Michael Howe-Davies 42 and Tom Allen 40.

Butcher then took 4-18 as Buzzard were dismissed for 99.

l Abingdon Vale 2nd 25,

Leighton Buzzard 2nd 5

Horspath 3rd moved up to third place, defeating visitors Cumnor 2nd by five wickets.

Ceri Holmes took 4-13 and Stuart Berry 3-7 to help dismiss Cumnor for 111.

Sam Powell claimed 3-14 in Horspath’s reply, but they reached 114-5 as Holmes completed a fine all-round performance with 32 not out.

l Horspath 3rd 25, Cumnor 2nd 6

Banbury 4th picked up only their third win when crushing hosts Bledlow Ridge by eight wickets.

Daniel Bartlett took 5-43 as Banbury dismissed their hosts for 151, before Barry Grant hit 88 not out to steer Banbury to 154-2 in the 37th over.

l Bledlow Ridge 4, Banbury 4th 25

Didcot 2nd saw off hosts Chearsley by three runs in a thriller.

Didcot were bowled out for 144, Soumyajit Moitra top-scoring with 48 and Ed Holland taking 4-30.

Ryan Higgins then claimed 3-17 and Kunal Patel 3-43 as the home side made 141.

l Chearsley 7, Didcot 2nd 25

DIVISIONS 6-9

GUS Shrimpton produced outstanding figures of 8-29 to help Cumnor 3rd to a 26-run victory at home to Great & Little Tew 4th in a low-scoring Division 8 clash.

Cumnor had been bowled out for 85, Simon Rae taking 5-18.

But Shrimpton’s fantastic haul sent Tew tumbling to 59 all out in reply.

In Division 6, Tom Weymes’s 7-20 was key as Twyford 2nd beat hosts Bledlow Village 2nd by four wickets.

Bledlow were all out for 118 after Weymes’s haul, and then Josh Goff hit 41 not out to steer Twyford to 120-6.

In Division 7, Daniel Clark hit a brilliant unbeaten century, but Bicester & North Oxford 2nd had to settle for a draw at Aston Rowant 4th.

Bicester racked up 249-3 in their 45 overs, Clark hammering 153 not out.

Rowant opted to bat out for the draw at 186-8, Adrian Summons hitting 72 not out.

Oxford & Bletchingdon Nondescripts 2nd marched on at the top after a nine-wicket win at home to Cublington 2nd.

Rustam Rabani took 7-24 in Cublington’s 74 all out, Nondies racing to 77-1 inside 14 overs.

Ken Cronshaw’s 101 not out helped Twyford 3rd to a crushing ten-wicket win at home to Bletchley Town 2nd in Division 9 North.