Cowley Internationals are in prime position to lift their first Division 1 title to add to their recent Airey Cup success, writes DAVID QUINN.

They go to Charlbury on Saturday knowing their fate is in their own hands.

This after they demolished Great Horwood by ten wickets, having bundled them out for just 33 in 13 overs, Ayaz Khan taking 5-14 and Ehsan Hussain 4-13.

Any slip-ups by Cowley and the lurking Minster Lovell could yet prevail providing they see off Chadlington.

At the weekend Minster all but ended Westbury’s defence of the trophy after overwhelming them by eight wickets.

Jack Simpson starred with 7-14 as the champs were dismissed for 93. Nathan Harris then scored 44 as Minster eased home.

Basement outfit Hook Norton ended their dismal campaign with defeat at Chadlington.

Mark Lambert’s unbeaten 84 left them chasing 209, but they fell a little short on 179, Steven Hunt claiming 4-41.

Garsington also face relegation after they were thrashed at Charlbury. Ollie Hollings grabbed 7-23 as the hosts skittled the opposition for 58. They duly reached their winning target with only four wickets down.

Zain Iqbal top-scored with 58 not out in Oxenford’s 196-9 at Shrivenham be-fore teammate Samir Khan’s 5-41 then undid their opponents, who eventually succumbed for 103.

The Division 2 champions-elect Radley, came unstuck at Tets-worth where Ashish Narenda compiled 95 in the home side’s 196, the visitors using ten bow-lers. A smart 5-39 from Nikunj Patel then helped restrict Radley to 144.

Despite an unbeaten 71 from Stuart Walton, Broughton & North Newington were edged out by eight runs at Stonesfield, finishing on 181. Tom Gubbins (3-13) and Adam Fleetwood (3-25) did the damage.

Nine-man Watlington were routed for just 68 at ten-man Clifton Hampden, who then completed the job by seven wickets.

Faringdon were also easy winners against East &West Hendred.

Requiring 150, half-centuries for Mike Hume (53) and Jack Tomes (57no) secured maximum points by nine wickets.

Charlie Arber’s 93 not out helped Combe get up to 235-7. David Gardener with 4-30 was then the main contributor as Chipping Norton were rolled over for 135.

A bizarre day in Division 3 saw the bottom two triumph over the top pair. Firstly, Eynsham bowled out Wantage for 104, Tom Prentice taking 7-36, to succeed by 66 runs in spite of Mike Konschel’s earlier 5-49.

Meanwhile, Wolvercote left Witney Swifts’ title celebrations on ice after defeating them by 39 runs, John Chrystal taking 5-32.

These setbacks have gifted Marsh Gibbon a stab at promotion as they took ad-vantage by whipping Westcott by 104 runs. Joe Leonard top-scored with 85 out of 207-6.

Jonny Reid hit a superb 107 as Fringford surpassed Cairns Fudge’s 185-6 for the loss of five wickets and with seven overs in hand.

With one failure all season, rampant Hanborough have stormed to the Division 4 championship.

They maintained their march with a crushing 87-run defeat of Swinbrook, Rob Lovick making 78 not out from 250-6.

Wootton & Boars Hill may well join them in Division 3 after they consolidated second spot with a nine-wicket drubbing of Kidlington.

Shaun Morton made an unbeaten 93 in the successful chase, while earlier Mick Wiskin had claimed five Kidlington wickets for just 35 runs.

Stanton Harcourt confirmed their superiority in Division 5 after piling on 278-9 at home to Kennington, Joel Graham contributing 71.

The visitors were shot out for 115, Andy Walker taking 4-41.

Darren Gordon returned figures of 3-25 to help dismiss Garsington 2nd for 121.

His Kilkenny colleagues then made light work of the reply, landing the spoils by nine wickets, Duncan MacDonald not out on 41.

In Division 6, Steventon’s four-run loss to Great Horwood 2nd may yet cost them promotion.

Responding to their opponents’ 178-9 in which Gary Lee made 100, they couldn’t quite get the job done.

If Minster Lovell 2nd win on Saturday, they will overtake Steventon after they defeated Westbury 2nd by seven wickets, having bowled them out for 120.

An innings of 68 from Craig Woods got champions-elect Kidlington 2nd to 235 at East & West Hendred 2nd in Division 7.

The hosts were then bundled out for 139, Christopher Graham claiming 3-40.

Cowley Internationals 2nd duly collected the Division 8 title with a seven-wicket success over Marcham 2nd. Abubakar Khan top-scored with 80 not out to add to his earlier 4-21.

Promotion-pushing Minster Lovell 3rd saw off the challenge of Chadlington 2nd by seven wickets in Division 9. Requiring 134, Oliver Mersch steered the ship home with 61.

In Division 10, Lewis Boiling carried his bat for 75 as Westcott 2nd overhauled Deddington 2nd’s impressive 237-8 with 16 balls remaining.

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