WESTBURY suffered their first defeat of the season as the top-of-the-table Division 3 clash at home to Wolverton ended in a 61-run loss.

Wolverton batted first and amassed 282-6 as Atif Akhlaq smashed 139 not out, Charlie Williams taking 4-59 for the home side.

The in-form Olly Tice struck 98 in Westbury’s reply, but they were bowled out for 221, with Idrees Butt returning superb figures of 7-35.

l Westbury 11pts, Wolverton Tn 25 Wes Bartlett fell just short of a second successive century for Oxford Downs 2nd as they beat hosts Banbury 3rd by 96 runs.

Opener Bartlett who scored 181 not out the previous week, hit 94 as Downs rattled up 281-6 in their 50 overs.

Neil Megson was once again in dogged form for Banbury, top-scoring with 30, but his side were bowled out for 185 in the 48th over, Jonny Meardon taking 3-33.

l Banbury 3rd 9pts, Ox Downs 2nd 25 Horley ran out 93-run victors in a remarkably high-scoring game at home to Great Brickhill 2nd.

Horley scored a huge 397-8 in their 50 overs, Nick Tarrant hitting 79, Dave Eaton 70 and David Taylor 54.

Brickhill replied in great style, reaching 304-5 in their 50 as Jilesh Pattni hit 77 and Drew Burrows 70 not out – a match containing an amazing 701 runs!

l Horley 25pts, Great Brickhill 13 East Oxford returned to winning ways with a 24-run victory at home to high-flying Cublington.

Mubashar Hassan slammed a superb 143 not out as East Oxford amassed 298-6 in their 50 overs.

Owen Venables (85) and Calum Gunning (70) shone in Cublington’s reply, but they finished short of the target on 274-6.

l East Oxford 25pts, Cublington 11 Division 4 leaders Minster Lovell marched on at the top of the table with a three-wicket win at Shipton-under-Wychwood 2nd.

The hosts, who were out in to bat, proceeded to 226-6 in 53 overs as Paul Hemming, hitting an excellent 80 not out.

Minster were struggling at 20-3 at one stage, but 64 from Eddie Dunn, 44 from James Merriman and 38 from Connor Tinsley saw them reach 228-7 with just over two overs to spare.

l Shipton 2nd 12pts, Minster Lovell 25 Tiddington 2nd slipped to a narrow one-wicket defeat at home to Bletcley Town.

Jeff Higgs top-scored with 55 in Tiddington’s 136 all out as Jude Ramanadanpulle took 5-17 for the visitors.

Ricardo Brown (37no) helped Bletchley to 139-9.

l Tiddington 2nd 11pts, Bletchley Tn 25 Thame Town 2nd fell to a three-wicket defeat at Brackley.

Matt Furness (52) and Richard Carr (37no) helped Thame post 192-7 in their 53 ovmadehit 55 and Michael Lowe 47 to steer Brackley to 195-7 with five balls to spare.

l Brackley 25pts, Thame Tn 11 Horspath 3rd were denied victory by a resolute Witney Mills, who held on for a draw.

George Horsley top-scored with 32 not out to help Horspath to 206-7 in their 53 overs.

Sam Buckfield scored 48 in Mills’s reply, but they were held by Adeel Rehman (3-38) and closed on 168-8.

l Horspath 3rd 18pts, Witney Mills 8 Stokenchurch kept up the pressure on the leaders as they beat basement boys Dinton 2nd by five wickets.

Majid Ahmed (4-31) and Josh Triggs (3-40) helped to dismiss Dinton for 195, before Paul Maddock hit 40 to lead Stokenchurch to 196-5.

l Dinton 2nd 9pts, Stokenchurch 25 Didcot 2nd edged past visitors Kingston Bagpuize by six runs in a Division 5 thriller at Boundary Park.

Karl Johnston (67) helped Didcot set 176 all out in the 43rd over, George Woodley taking 5-25 for Kingston.

Despite having the extra overs, Kingston fell to 170 all out in reply as Ranjit Singh took 3-36.

l Didcot 2nd 25pts, K Bagpuize 8 Abingdon Vale 2nd kept up the pressure on leaders Cumnor 2nd by seeing off hosts Leighton Buzzard Town 2nd by 35 runs.

Mike Hawthorne hit 75, Rob Hood showed a welcome return to form with 53 and the reliable Paul Butcher scored 50 to lead Vale to 250 all out.

Butcher then completed an excellent all-round display with 5-64 as Buzzard were all out for 215 in the 43rd over, Wayne Tyas hitting 80.

l L Buzzard 2nd 9pts, Abingdon 2nd 25 Cumnor 2nd stayed on top of the table after running out seven-wicket winners at home to Bledlow Ridge.

Bledlow were all out for 208 in the 47th over, and Cumnor reached 212-3 in the 43rd over to wrap up victory.

l Cumnor 2nd 25pts, Bledlow Ridge 7 Cropredy 2nd were too strong for visitors Oxford 3rd as they raced to a seven-wicket win.

Oxford were shot out for 148, James Coleman taking 6-38.

Cropredy eased in at 149-3, Adam Goodway top-scoring with 39.

l Cropredy 2nd 25pts, Oxford 3rd 5 Matthew Wareham hammered an outstanding 180 not out for Long Marston 2nd, but it was not enough to win as hosts Kimble batted out time.

Wareham’s knock led Marston to a massive 380-6, but they could have declared far earlier as Kimble closed on 218-7, Ewan Crawley top-scoring with 97.

l Kimble 6pts, Long Marston 2nd 18