DIVISION 1

CUMNOR’S early-season form appears to have abandoned them as a four-wicket defeat at home to Horspath 2nd sent them plummeting towards the Cherwell League Division 1 relegation zone on Saturday.

The hosts had high hopes of making a challenge for honours this season, but that appears to be fading following their second successive defeat.

Put in to bat by Horspath, Cumnor would have been disappointed not to have batted out their allotted 50 overs.

Skipper Matt Lake departed for just four, and that set the tone for Cumnor’s innings as they lost wickets at regular intervals throughout.

Callum Russell, Joe Dale and Mark Farmer all got starts, but no one was able to go on to make a meaningful contribution as Mark Skelton claimed 4-59 in his ten overs.

In the end, a second-wicket stand of 76 between Russell (37) and Dale (36) was as good as it got for Cumnor as they were bowled out for an under par 203.

In their reply, Horspath lost Kit Cutter early, but Horspath eased to the target with almost five overs remaining.

Jack Biggs led the way with 53, while there were also solid contributions from the Todd brothers Joe (31) and Dan (25).

The result sees Cumnor drop to seventh, just 26 points above the drop zone, while Horspath moved up to fifth.

Cumnor 6pts, Horspath 2nd 25

ASTON Rowant moved back up to second place after a thumping 122-run victory at Leighton Buzzard Town.

Rowant posted 217-9 in their 50 overs as Ben Knowler hit 47 and Thad Cooper 41, Dan Scott claiming 5-47 for the home side.

Buzzard were never in the hunt as Dom Whatman took 3-8 to help dismiss the home side for just 95.

l L Buzzard Tn 4pts, Aston Rowant 25

Banbury 2nd saw off visitors Long Marston by three wickets with just five balls to spare.

Simon Butler top-scored with 76 as Marston racked up 255-9 in their 50 overs, Stephen Hart taking

3-23.

Ollie Morgan (65) and Tom Bartlett (56) then shone in Banbury’s reply as they reached 258-7 in the last over.

l Long Marston 8, Banbury 2nd 25

Tiddington’s good run came to an end as they lost by three wickets at Great Brickhill.

Tiddington failed to use their allotted 50 overs as they were bowled out for 213 in the 43rd over, Arjun Jhala taking 5-31.

Mark Nelson then hit 97 in Brickhill’s reply as they reached 217-7 with more than seven overs remaining.

l Great Brickhill 25, Tiddington 7

Dinton cruised back to the summit after crushing sorry Twyford by ten wickets.

The match was completed in just 23 overs as visitors Twyford were shot out for 46, Ryan Chapman taking 6-18 and Faisal Ali 4-26.

Adam Mould (30no) then steered Dinton to 47-0.

l Dinton 25, Twyford 0

DIVISION 2

OXFORD Downs consolidated their position at the top with a nine-wicket mauling of hosts Great & Little Tew 2nd.

Harry Sutton followed up his six-wicket haul from last week to take 5-14 in Tew’s 93 all out.

Wasim Mehmood then hit a quickfire 63 not out to steer his side to 96-1 in 20 overs.

l Great Tew 2nd 1pt, Oxford Downs 25

Sandford St Martin moved up to second place courtesy of a six-wicket success at Oxford 2nd.

Joe Porter hit 71 to help Oxford to 176 all out, Henry Portman (3-29) and Tom Goffe (3-33) shining for Sandford.

The visitors had few scares reaching the target as Kris Jones (75) led them to 177-4.

l Oxford 2nd 7, Sandford St Martin 25

Oxford & Bletchingdon Nondescripts easily saw off struggling Wolverton Town by 100 runs.

Chris Day led the way with 80 in Nondies’ 250 all out, but the star of the show was Arfan Ahmed, who claimed 6-34 as Wolverton fell to 150 all out in reply.

l Ox & B Nondies 25, Wolverton Tn 7

Promotion hopefuls Abingdon Vale suffered a setback after a four-wicket loss at home to Buckingham 2nd.

Only Henry Pickford (56) really got going for Vale as they struggled to 135 all out, Ben Laycock taking 4-38 and Matthew Saunders 4-39.

Laycock then hit 59 not out in Buckingham’s reply, leading them to 136-6 in the 42nd over.

l Abingdon Vale 8, Buckingham 2nd 25

Challow & Childrey’s hopes were also dented as they could only draw at Cropredy.

Ed Somerton (73) and Richard Lynch (55) saw the home side set an imposing 255-6 in their 53 overs – a target that was to prove way beyond Challow.

Jake Heath claimed 4-42 for the north Oxfordshire side and Challow were left clinging on at 166-8 at the close.

l Cropredy 19, Challow & Childrey 5

DIVISION 3

DIDCOT thumped hosts Shipton-under-Wychwood 2nd by ten wickets.

Rob Keat (5-39) and Elliot Matthews (4-25) combined to rip through the Shipton batting order for just 102, before Simon Pritchard hit 52 not out and Ian Demain 35 not out to steer Didcot to 105-0 inside 18 overs.

l Shipton 2nd 1pt, Didcot 25

Banbury 3rd were no match for leaders Bledlow Village who enjoyed an eight-wicket victory.

Banbury set a good total of 247-9 in their 53 overs, led by Ollie Murrey’s 64.

But the Division 3 leaders eased to the target with only two wickets down and with more than five overs to spare, Harry Bartlett hitting 91 and Ollie Woodward 81 not out.

l Banbury 3rd 7, Bledlow Vill 25

David Taylor hit a century to help Horley to a 52-run win at home to Cublington.

Taylor’s 108 saw Horley set 245 all out in 49 overs, Will Rodnight taking 6-55.

Sam Carter top-scored with 98 for Cublington, but Jonathan Hart (5-17) and Pete Papenfus (3-59) combined to bowl them out for 193.

l Horley 25, Cublington 9

Oxford Downs 2nd picked up useful points in their battle against relegation in a draw with visitors Blewbury & Wallingford.

Jack Soppett top-scored with 51 as Downs posted 239-9 in their 53 overs, Tom Gould taking 3-50 and Scott Harris 3-66.

Blewbury never really challenged Downs’ total, as they closed on 214-7, Steve Roberts taking 4-43 and Harry Warman top-scoring with 66.

l Ox Downs 2nd 17, Blewbury & W 9

Tiddington 2nd are still winless after losing by six wickets at home to Great Brickhill 2nd.

They were skittled for only 84, allowing the visitors to ease to 87-4 to secure victory.

l Tidd’ton 2nd 4, Gt Brickhill 2nd 25

DIVISION 4

WITNEY Mills continued their climb up the table after hammering hapless Oxford 3rd by 238 runs.

Adam Mayho smashed a brilliant 131 and Mike Dove 59 not out as Mills racked up 277-6 in their 53 overs.

And with Ben Madden (6-18) and Ollie Burney (4-20) in inspired form, Oxford were tumbled out for 39 in 16 overs.

l Witney Mills 25pts, Oxford 3rd 2

Leaders Westbury returned to winning ways with a 103-run success at Brackley.

Tom Wilson (66no) and Will Gurney (57) helped Westbury to 201-6 in their 53 overs.

Veteran off-spinner Richard Tredwell then claimed figures of 6-29 to send the home side tumbling to 98 all out.

l Brackley 2pts, Westbury 25

Bicester & North Oxford kept up the pressure by seeing off visitors Bletchley Town by five wickets.

Batting first, Bletchley could muster only 124 all out as Kishan Dave took 3-31.

Richard Simpson, better known for his leg-spin, then hit 74 not out to lead Bicester to 125-5.

l Bicester & NO 25pts, Bletchley 6

East Oxford’s excellent form continued with an eight-wicket win at home to Dinton 2nd.

Chetan Walia claimed 3-29 to help to restrict Dinton to 174-9 in their 53 overs.

East Oxford were in their normal hurry to reach the target, taking just 28.4 overs to cruise to 175-2 as Atif Ali hit 65 not out and Johannes Jacobus 46.

l East Oxford 25pts, Dinton 2nd 5

Arshad Latif produced a batting masterclass to help Stokenchurch to a six-wicket win at Kimble.

The home side had set 256-6 in their 53 overs as Bradley Rose made 94.

But Latif slammed a brilliant 143 not out to steer his side to 259-4 with more than five overs remaining.

l Kimble 9pts, Stokenchurch 25

DIVISION 5

ABINGDON Vale 2nd’s title challenge stayed on track as they edged out hosts Bledlow Ridge by three wickets in Division 5.

Matt Butcher was the star of the show with the ball, taking 5-30 as Ridge were bowled out for 167 in the 46th over.

Vale made good use of the extra overs, reaching the target with four balls to spare as the diminutive Tom Allen top-scored with 38 not out.

l Bledlow Ridge 10pts,

Abingdon Vale 2nd 25

A fine knock of 76 from Mark Pallett helped Banbury 4th to a 25-run win at Chearsley.

Banbury set a total of 219 all out, Ed Holland taking 6-53 for the home side.

Ed Bradbury then took 4-31 and Chris Phillips 3-49 as Chearsley were bowled out for 194.

l Chearsley 9, Banbury 4th 25

Horspath 3rd saw off visitors Leighton Buzzard Town 2nd by four wickets.

Adeel Rehman took 4-56 for Horspath as they restricted Buzzard to 207 all out, before D Jones (63no) and Chris Jones (45) led Horspath to 211-6 in the 43rd over.

l Horspath 3rd 25, L Buzzard 2nd 10

Didcot 2nd came within three runs of beating leaders Thame 2nd, but had to settle for a draw in the end.

But despite batting out the entire allocation, they finished agonisingly short on 205-8.

l Didcot 2nd 12pts, Thame Tn 2nd 15

A brilliant century from Joel Washbourn-Calcutt was not quite enough for Cumnor 2nd, who were denied by Kingston Bagpuize’s last pair.

Washbourn-Calcutt dominated the Cumnor innings as he slammed 114 not out in his side’s 276-6.

Toby Ricks replied with 72 for Kingston, but they were left clinging on at 246-9 as the visitors failed to prise out the final wicket.

l Cumnor 2nd 19pts,

Kingston Bagpuize 8

DIVISIONS 6-9

SAM Lyon missed out on a century by a single run, but his 99 not out helped Aston Rowant 3rd to a thrilling three-wicket victory at Bledlow Village 2nd in Division 6.

Bledlow had set 229-7 in their 53 overs, Tim Foster taking 4-57 for Rowant.

Lyon led the visitors’ reply, finishing unbeaten on 99 as his side reached 230-7 with just three balls to spare.

Great & Little Tew 3rd put up a tremendous run chase at Long Marston 2nd, but had to settle for a draw in the end.

The home side racked up a huge total of 303-5 declared in only 46 overs as Matthew Wareham smashed 118.

But Tew, given extra overs to reach the formidable target, gave a great account of themselves, only to close on 273-4, despite 77 from Cameron Brown, 75 from Sam Barnes and 51 from Jack Haggett.

Jim Howe rolled back the years for Sandford St Martin 2nd with a spell of 6-26 helping his side to an eight-wicket win against visitors Horspath 4th in Division 7.

Howe’s haul restricted Horspath to 156 all out, and then Paul Tanner (52) and Michael Chapman (45no) led Sandford home at 158-2.

In Division 8, Natarajan Kaliyamoorthy’s superb haul of 7-38 was in vain as Abingdon Vale 3rd had to settle for a draw at home to Kimble 2nd.

Vale were bowled out for 158, but Kaliyamoorthy’s inspired spell had Kimble clinging on for dear life at 116-9.

Dave Allen starred again for Didcot 3rd with an all-round display helping his side to a 22-run win at Oxford & Bletchingdon Nondescripts 3rd.

Allen top-scored with 59 in Didcot’s 154 all out, before claiming 7-36 with ball in hand as Nondies crashed to 132 all out in their reply.