WITNEY Swifts are now hot favourites for the OCA League Division 1 title after they beat second-placed Wolvercote by five wickets to stretch their lead.

Wolvercote were bowled out for 179 as Tom Stewart-Liberty hit 88 and Red Pratley took 3-51.

Swifts, led by Charlie Fisher’s 53 not out, eased to 181-5 and are now 53 points clear.

Yarnton & Cowley moved up to third with a two-wicket win over visitors Oxenford.

Muhammad Adil’s 3-26 helped to restrict Oxenford to 142 all out, Roshan Gedera hitting 71.

Hamish Hiscock took 5-41 in Yarnton’s reply, but they edged in at 143-8.

Nigel George took 5-28 as East & West Hendred beat visitors Wootton & Boars Hill by 47 runs.

Andy Francis top-scored with 61 in Hendred’s 214 all out, before George took over, Wootton falling for 167.

Stonesfield won a thriller against Westcott by two runs.

George Redknap (72) and Dan Farrant (63no) led hosts Stonesfield to 239-8, Alimar Khan taking 5-52.

Westcott put up a terrific chase, but finished agonisingly short on 237-9, Tony Burcham hitting 59.

Marsh Gibbon saw off visitors Faringdon by 37 runs.

Rupert Shipperley (43) and Joe Leonard (42) saw Marsh set 220-7, and then Faringdon were restricted to 183-7, Jon Tomes top-scoring with 56.

In Division 2, Middleton Cheney marched on with a five-wicket win over Wantage.

Sam Hanson took 5-21 and Steve Wilkes 4-23 in Wantage’s 129 all out, David Spencer hitting an unbeaten 78.

Steve Twynham led Middleton’s reply, his 61 seeing them home at 133-5.

Stanton Harcourt edged out hosts Cairns Fudge by three wickets.

Fudge were restricted to 163 all out, Ryan Wastie and Ben Lucas taking three wickets each.

The duo then shone with the bat, Lucas hitting 78 not out and Wastie 37 as Stanton reached 167-7.

Chipping Norton easily beat hosts Hanborough by 93 runs.

Charith Karwita top-scored with 56 in Chippy’s 203-7, and then then dismissed Hanborough for just 110 and Jim McGeown and Martin Elliott each took three wickets.

Watlington’s Steve Strong struck 69 to help his side to a 36-run win over visitors Tetsworth.

After setting 223 all out, Watlington dismissed Tetsworth for 187, Owen Lewis taking 4-41.

Division 3 leaders Kilkenny beat hosts West Ilsley by 63 runs.

Chris May (104no), Darren Gordon (82) and Robbie Craddock (55no) shone as Kilkenny racked up 276-3.

In their reply, Adam Barnes hit 112 not out, but West Ilsley finished on 213-5 as Gordon took 3-49.

Risinghurst kept up the pressure with a six-wicket win at Marcham.

Stuart Armstrong top-scored with 85 in Marcham’s 172-9, Martin Kalyan taking 4-19 and John Thompson 4-36.

Martin Kalyan then hit 77 and Lokeshwar Bandhu 60 not out to steer Risinghurst to 176-4.

Bampton slipped to a seven-wicket defeat at home to Kidlington.

They were bowled out for 165, and Kidlington eased to 166-3 as Sahil Kalyan hit 65 not out.

Brill’s Andy Wynd scored 84 not out to steer his side to a five-wicket win at Chadlington.

Andy Parson’s 126 not out was all in vain for Broughton & North Newington as they lost by seven wickets against hosts Dorchester.

Broughton set 232-7, but 99 from Conor Graney and 86 not out from Adrian Redhead saw Dorchester to 235-3.

Robbie Nicholson smashed 153 not out as Combe beat visitors Sunningwell by 107 runs in Division 4.

Along with Josh Lenthall (68), Nicholson helped Combe to

317-5.

Nigel Lovell then hit 96 in Sunningwell’s reply, but Mike Eeley then took 5-61, Sunningwell falling for 210.

Leaders Hook Norton suffered their first defeat of the season, losing by 24 runs at the hands of Steventon.

Phil Armstrong (54) and Mithun Sortur (50) helped Steventon to 229-9.

Armstrong then claimed 4-34 in Hooky’s reply as they fell for 205, Dan White hitting 85.Shrivenham beat Uffington by six wickets.

Wolvercote 2nd are 54 points clear at the top of Division 5 following a seven-wicket win at Kidlington 2nd.

The hosts were all out for 183, Andy Oliver hitting 76 and Neil Sadler taking 4-62.

Tohsif Manzoor (62) and Chris Potter (60) then shone to steer Wolvercote to 184-3.

Oxenford 2nd slipped up as Freeland won by three wickets.

Billy Rendell claimed 5-39 for the visitors as Oxenford were bowled out for 165, before Marc Buckingham continued his excellent form with 74, leading Freeland to 166-7.

Haider Zaman had a superb spell of 7-16 to help Tetsworth 2nd to a

seven-wicket win over Swinbrook.

The visitors were rolled for just 96, and then Rohan Stapleton hit 51 as Tetsworth reached 99-3.

East & West Hendred saw off hosts Kennington by three wickets.

Chasing Kennington’s 203 all out, Hendred reached 206-7, Ian Clewley top-scoring with 52.

In Division 6, Risinghurst 2nd saw off visitors Chalgrove by seven wickets.

Raj Kumar took 4-18 in Chalgrove’s 123 all out, and then Raj Naik hit 70 as Risinghurst eased in at 127-3.

Dorchester 2nd saw off hosts Letcombe by 43 runs, while Chesterton defeated Wolvercote 3rd by 18 runs.

Ed Phipps scored a century for Chipping Norton 2nd in their crushing 231-run win over Kidlington 3rd in Division 7 North.

Nathan Wallington chipped in with 75 in Chippy’s 307-7, and then Jack Owen took 5-26 as Kidlington fell for 76.

Stanton Harcourt 2nd eased to a five-wicket win over visitors Stonesfield, while there was a thrilling one-wicket win for Deddington 2nd at Hook Norton 2nd.

Westcott 2nd’s Phil Bateman fell four runs short of a century in his side’s 73-run win over Oxenford 3rd.

Westcott posted 213-8, and then Lewis Jeacock took 4-10 as Oxenford fell to 140 all out.

In Division 7 South, Kilkenny 2nd romped to a ten-wicket win against visitors Steventon 2nd.

Charlie Wood took 4-9 in Steventon’s 110 all out, and then Jason Trinder (66no) and Iain Jenkins (30no) led Kilkenny to 111-0.Elsewhere, Faringdon 2nd beat Kennington 2nd by nine wickets and Harwell International saw off Watlington 2nd by five wickets.

Andy Walker hit an unbeaten century to help Stanton Harcourt 2nd secure their place in the final of the Osberton Radiators Cup with a 42-run win over Chipping Norton 2nd.

Walker’s 111 not out and 58 from Jason Fuller saw Stanton reach 279-8.

Paul Westley struck 106 in Chippy’s reply, but they were restricted to 237-9.

They will face Faringdon in the final after they sealed a two-run win over Watlington.

Simon Cornish was the undoubted star of the show, hitting 67 in Faringdon’s 219-6, and then claimed 4-27 as Watlington fell agonisingly short on 217 all out, Tom King hitting 72.