CRICKET: Reports from the Cherwell League

Twyford won the toss at Hales Meadow, and inserted their hosts and they made early inroads as openers Tom Allen and Luke Maslen both fell cheaply to Luke Evans and Zabiullah Saeed respectively.

Jon Jenkinson and Arthur Jones briefly steadied the ship with a partnership of 30, but after Jones fell to a catch by Mohammed Fayyaz off Edward Selby-Lowndes, Vale stumbled again, slipping to 89-7.

Skipper Joe Butcher took Vale past the 100 mark, and finished not out with 33, but nobody could stick with him as the hosts were dismissed inside 37 overs for 116.

Saeed was the pick of the Twyford attack with 4-42 from 12 overs.

Twyford went on the attack from the start.

Although Graham Charlesworth removed opener Shahid Mahmood for nine, the visitors were never in any trouble.

Adam Bone top-scored with 40 and Asif Shah finished 29 not out as Twyford cruised to 120-4 in the 22nd over to secure a convincing victory.

Oxford Downs marched on at the top with a comfortable 79-run victory at home to Cumnor.

The visitors put the leaders in to bat, and bowled them out for 163 as Max Mannering took 3-42 and Alex Davies 3-57. Amin Rafiq top-scored with 57.

But Cumnor had no answer to the pace of Harry Sutton and Tom Costley, who took 5-37 and 3-28 respectively as they slumped to 84 all out in the 28th over.

Great Brickhill kept up the pressure but remain 37 points behind the leaders in second despite a crushing nine-wicket win at basement boys Banbury 2nd.

Banbury opted to bat and after a tricky start which saw them five down with just 63 on the board, Oxfordshire Under 17 captain George Tait and Richard Simpson led a recovery.

Tait finished on 66 not out and Simpson chipped in with a valuable 44.

With Chloe Hill adding some late order impetus, Banbury eventually set 202-7 in their 53 overs.

However, former England Under 19 and Northamptonshire batsman Mark Nelson made light work of the target.

He smashed 124 not out in 91 balls to steer his side to 204-1 in the 36th over, Austin John also scoring 54 not out.

Challow & Childrey were beaten by six wickets at Long Marston.

They were dismissed for just 120, Hugh Atkinson top-scoring with 32.

James Beesley then struck 55 not out to steer Long Marston to 123-4.

Neil Smith and Tom Weymes took three wickets apiece as Tiddington defeated visitors Buckingham Town 2nd by four wickets.

Buckingham batted with just ten players, being bowled out for 93 with Oxfordshire skipper Jonny Cater in the team due to work commitments, but not arriving in time to bat.

Smith took 3-10 and Weymes 3-30.

In reply, Tiddington lost regular wickets, but chasing such a low target, reached 95-6 to secure maximum points.

Westbury posted a convincing 90-run victory over Wolverton Town to stretch their advantage at the top of Division 2 to 43 points.

The leaders set 206-9 in their 53 overs as Olly Tice hit 51, William Gurney 43 and Tom Gurney 39.

Veteran spinner Richard Tredwell then claimed 4-17 as the hosts were dismissed for 119 in a one-sided encounter.

Cropredy moved up to second spot by seeing off visitors Aston Rowant 2nd by five wickets.

Patrick Somerton claimed 3-32 to help to restrict Rowant to a below-par total of 153-8.

Jake Walters then hit 79 to steer Cropredy to 155-5 in the 32nd over as struggling Rowant stay at the wrong end of the table Sandford St Martin remain rooted to the foot of the table after they fell to a 37-run defeat at home to Oxford 2nd.

Richard Musk top-scored with 55 in Oxford’s 194 all out, Mark Robey (3-16) starring with the ball.

Ollie Ong struck 76 in Sandford’s reply, but Andrew Busby claimed 4-27 as the home side fell for 157.

Didcot were denied victory after hosts Horspath 2nd batted out for a draw.

Adam Webb struck 86, Karl Johnston 49 and Elliot Mathews 47 as Didcot posted 262-8 in their 53 overs.

In reply, Robbie Eason hit 76 and Jehan Mohammed 72 not out, but Horspath never looked like chasing down the total, closing their innings on 228-6.

Bledlow Village saw off Leighton Buzzard Town by four wickets.

Tom Light (51) and Lee Selfe (50) helped Leighton Buzzard to 229-8.

But opener Matthew Bolton hit 61 and the rest of the top four all scored at least 40 as Bledlow chased down the target in the 40th over.

Morning leaders Oxford & Bletchingdon Nondescripts suffered an embarrassing collapse to lose top spot in Division 3.

Hosts Bicester & North Oxford, who went into the game in second place, shot out the table-toppers for just 49 to leapfrog them to the summit.

Chris De Kock and Dan Savin both took 3-13 in Nondies’ terrible innings, and Bicester took just 15.2 overs to knock off the paltry target, cruising to 51-2.

Minster Lovell leapfrogged Oxford Downs 2nd to third place with a five-wicket win.

Downs, choosing to bat first, set 210-7 as Wasim Mehmood hit 61 and Darryl Woods 42. Eddie Dunn returned 3-67 from 17 overs.

In reply, Minster reached 214-5 in the 41st over, Jack Simpson finishing 74 not out, while Dunn struck 71. Cam Spilsbury returned 4-73.

Banbury 3rd hammered basement boys Great & Little Tew 2nd by 178 runs.

Steve Armstrong (74) and Mike Simpson (52) helped Banbury to 242-7 in their 53 overs.

Chris Phillips then claimed 3-15 as Tew were shot out in just 17 overs for 64.

Horley fell to a surprising 54-run defeat at Great Brickhill 2nd.

Greg MacDonald’s 110 not out led the host to 238-5 in their 53 overs after being inserted by visitors Horley.

Lee Morgan then took 5-60 as Horley fell for 184, Craig Lynes top-scoring with 34.

Stokenchurch hammered hosts Cublington by nine wickets.

After skittling Cublington out for 77, Stokenchurch needed just 10.2 overs to reach 79-1, Josh Triggs hitting 76 not out.

In Division 4, Sam Lachlan returned superb figures of 7-41 as Thame Town 2nd thumped visitors Abingdon Vale 2nd by nine wickets to go top of the table.

Vale were shot out for 73 with Lachlan to the fore.

Thame then required less than 18 overs to cruise to 76-1, Harry Thomas hitting 32 not out.

Patrick Knightley (4-26) and Joe Elliott (4-34) helped Tiddington 2nd to a six-wicket win at Witney Mills.

The hosts were all out for 150 in their final over, before Jon Talbot (43) and Jacob Davis (33) led Tiddington to 152-4.

East Oxford were bowled out for 128 as they lost by 81 runs against visitors Brackley.

Josh Rowland was the star for Brackley, taking 5-27.

Earlier, Brackley had set 209-9 as Eric Carpenter hit 63, while Tanveer Alam returned 4-44.

Shipton-under-Wychwood 2nd slumped to an eight-wicket defeat at home to Bletchley Town as Matt Shepherd led the way for the visitors with a century.

Shipton had set a decent total of 192 all out, Ian Lewis top-scoring with 49.

But Shepherd’s 122 helped Bletchley to 193-2 in the 32nd over.

All results were possible going into the final over at Charlbury, who eventually drew their match with visitors Long Marston.

The hosts were bowled out for 227 in the 49th over, Tom Nash hitting 69 and Tom Harris 61.

Matthew Wareham struck 98 in Long Marston’s reply, but despite having 51 overs at their disposal, they finished just four runs short of victory, closing on 224-7.

Cropredy 2nd went back to the top of Division 5, despite losing by four wickets at Kimble.

Cropredy racked up 258-9 as Charlie Wise top-scored with 64.

But Kimble reached the target in 46 overs, Peter Dumbarton hitting 69 and Jack Foster 56.

Aston Rowant 3rd were knocked of top spot as they fell to a 61-run defeat at Chearsley, who went into the game rooted to the bottom of the table.

The hosts set 222-8, Andrew Crichton top-scoring with 54.

Paul Plumridge scored 53 in Rowant’s reply, but they were bowled out for 161 and after picking up only six points, slipped to second.

Andrew Hodder-Williams scored a superb century to lead hosts Cumnor 2nd to a 100-run victory over Dinton 2nd.

Hodder-Williams struck 108 to help Cumnor to 239 all out, and then Dinton were bowled out for 139.

Toby Ricks’s century was not enough for Kingston Bagpuize, who were held to a dull draw by hosts Horspath 3rd.

Kingston posted 239-8 as Ricks hit 114 and Ed Oakley took 3-36.

Alex Thomas then made 58 in Horspath’s reply, but they opted to bat out the overs, closing on 159-6 in their 47 overs.

Didcot 2nd hammered visitors Leighton Buzzard Town 2nd by nine wickets after dismissing them for just 83.

There was no rush in the Didcot innings – the hosts taking 35 overs to reach 84-1.

Kasun Mathota returned extraordinary figures of 8-1 from 5.2 overs to help Minster Lovell 3rd to an eight-wicket win over visitors Chearsley 2nd in Division 10.

Mathota’s incredible haul sent Chearsley tumbling to 53 all out, Minster cruising to 57-2 in reply.

In Division 6, Ollie Dunn scored a brilliant unbeaten century to help Challow & Childrey 2nd to a crushing 161-run victory over visitors Buckingham Town 3rd.

Dunn smashed 132 not out and Richard Hales 84 as Challow declared on 279-4 in the 48th over.

Alex Dawson then took 5-28 and Martin Turnbull 4-22 as Buckingham were shot out for 118.

Shipton-under-Wychwood 3rd thrashed visitors Cublington 2nd by 170 runs in Division 8.

Justin Hemming (89) and Simon Dickens (73) helped Shipton declare on 284-7, before Jamie Ruthen-Stuart took 5-23 as Cublington were dismissed for just 114.

A superb 130 not out from Joey Edwards helped Kingston Bagpuize 2nd to an eight-wicket win against visitors Kimble 2nd in Division 9.

Chasing Kimble’s 273-4 declared, in which Usman Riaz made 100 not out, Bagpuize raced to 274-2 in the 42nd over, Stuart Edwards contributing 85 not out.