MINSTER Lovell sealed their first Airey Cup triumph with a thrilling six-run victory over Shrivenham at Great Horwood.

The Division 1 leaders edged home to collect their second OCA trophy of the season, and maintain their hopes of completing an unprecedented treble.

Shrivenham opted to insert Minster on a damp pitch and made quick inroads as Harry Ebsworth was dismissed for a duck.

Wickets fell regularly as Conor Taylor and Adam Tucker bowled well for Shrivenham, and Minster at one stage were struggling at 123-6.

However, a 60-run stand between skipper Nathan Harris and Eddie Dunn got them back on track, and they eventually posted a competitive 204-8.

Dunn top-scored with 50, while Harris hit 34, Taylor finishing with 3-46.

In reply, Shrivenham lost an early wicket when Charan Chahal fell for 17.

Will Snell and Adam Tucker put on 87 for the second wicket and Shrivenham appeared well on track for victory.

But after Snell was dismissed, it sparked a Minster revival.

Tucker followed soon after for an excellent 71, and he could consider himself somewhat unlucky to be given out lbw as he appeared to have edged the ball into his pads.

Jagi Chahal kept Shrivenham in the hunt with an unbeaten 42.

But he lost regular partners at the other end as Minster kept chipping away.

Bryan Barrett and Jack Simpson took two wickets apiece to peg Shrivenham back, and they finished agonisingly short at 198-8.

Scores: Minster Lovell 204-8 (45 ovs, E Dunn 50, N Harris 34, E Graham 33, C Taylor 3-46), Shrivenham 198-8 (45 ovs, A Tucker 71, J Chahal 42no).

TORRENTIAL rain wreaked havoc on the OCA League programme as only a handful of games managed to reach a conclusion.

Marsh Gibbon racked up an impressive ten-wicket victory at home to Broughton & North Newington to keep alive their hopes of avoiding the drop from Division 2.

Restricting the visitors to 124-7, Marsh Gibbon cruised to 127-0 with Joe Leonard (52no) and Stuart Leonard (50no) starring.

Wantage defeated hosts Chadlington by seven wickets.

Freddie Magee top-scored with 32 in Chadlington’s 132-5 from 25 overs.

George Chipchase then claimed 3-29 in Wantage’s reply, but they reached 134-3 as Nick Burton hit 48.

In Division 1, Charlbury beat the weather to see off hosts Radley by 32 runs.

Batting first, Charlbury posted 145-3 in a rain-reduced match of 28 overs per side.

Bimalka Liyanarachchi hit 41 not out, while Jason Hornsby was unbeaten on 39.

In reply, Radley crawled to 119-9 as Ashley Rump took 3-11 and Jake Godfrey 3-25.

In Division 3, Stanton Harcourt beat visitors Tetsworth by 22 runs in a 25 overs per side match.

Callum Parker (46no) and Andy Walker (37) helped Stanton to 177-5, before the pair took four wickets apiece to restrict Tetsworth to 155-8, despite 56 from Krunal Patel.

Watlington secured promotion from Division 4 after a seven-wicket win at home to Minster Lovell 2nd.

Neil Maguire’s hat-trick in figures of 4-41 was the highlight as Minster were all out for 159, before James Howlett (68no) and Nicholas Little (45no) led Watlington to 162-3.

In Division 5, Britwell Salome beat visitors Kennington by 57 runs on the target score method.

Hassan Khurshi’s brilliant 110 not out and 52 from Steve Strong helped Britwell to an imposing 247-7.

The rain cut Kennington’s overs by five and the target was set at 228.

But they were bowled out for 171 as Zaffair Hussain took 3-30 and Neil Lawrence 3-43.

Garsington missed all the showers to record a 34-run win at home to West Witney.

Stephen Prew finished 99 not out as Garsington reached 245-6, Graham Day adding 50.

Saurabh Mehrotra scored 92 in West Witney’s reply, but they were bowled out for 211 as James Morrison and Clive Woodward each took 3-59.

Three matches survived in Division 6, with Radley 2nd running out one-run victors over Kidlington 2nd.

Ashley Pike hit 38 and Rezwan Rana 30 not out in Radley’s 120-5 from 31 overs.

Awais Rana then claimed 3-13 as Kidlington were bowled out for 119.

Steventon edged out visitors Hanney by one wicket on the target score method.

Hanney posted 115-8 in 35 overs, Peter Cakebread hitting 31 and Phil Armstrong taking 3-24.

After another rain delay, Steventon’s target was set at 105 from 34 overs, and they reached 106-9 as Armstrong hit 47.

Combe edged past hosts Yarnton & Cowley 2nd by two wickets in Division 7.

The home side were all out for 163, before Mike Eeley hit 60 and Mark Francis 50 as Combe got home at 167-8.

In Division 8, Dorchester 2nd beat nine-man Chalgrove by seven wickets.

Ian Ferris claimed 4-6 as the visitors made just 90, before Dorchester eased to 92-3.

Hook Norton 2nd ran out 30-run victors at Kennington 2nd in Division 9.

Andrew Thomas top-scored with 69 in Hooky’s 166-7 from 35 overs, before the hosts were restricted to 136-6.