Home Counties Premier League Division 1: BANBURY moved up to fourth place in the Division 1 table after seeing off champions High Wycombe in a game that produced over 600 runs on Saturday.

Electing to bat on a good pitch and fast outfield at White Post Road, Wycombe had a flying start aided by Banbury conceding a combination of 14 wides and no balls in the opening four overs.

However, one big plus for Banbury was the wicket of their former all-rounder Dave Taylor, who had scored an unbeaten 177 in the league the previous week. He was caught by Andy Sabin off paceman Simon Launder.

With a back injury forcing former England left-arm seamer Paul Taylor out of the attack early on, Banbury did well to keep the visitors down to 78 after 20 overs, but then Greg Pooley and Paul Sawyer took command.

They shared a stand of 204 in 36 overs, enabling Wycombe to see up the 300 before declaring on 305-5 off 58.3 overs.

Banbury openers Sabin and Ian Tew put on 51 in 13 overs to provide a solid base to the innings.

Sabin and skipper Craig Haupt then added a further 97 together in 19 overs before Haupt injured his knee and called for a runner.

After hitting the next three balls for boundaries, Haupt pushed the next delivery for a single and ran himself - to be stranded at the wrong end with his runner, as the keeper removed the bails!

Sabin and Richard Kaufman then shared a fourth-wicket stand of 118 in 18 overs before three wickets went down for four runs in the space of 16 balls, to leave the match in the balance.

Fortunately for Banbury, Marc Rorich and Danny Harding kept calm, and steadied the side to an improbable victory with five wickets and nine balls to spare.

HIGH WYCOMBE

M Eyles lbw Rorich...32

D Taylor c Sabin b Launder...6

J Harrison b Haupt...16

G Pooley not out...79

P Sawyer c Kaufman b Hill...128

M Wright b Launder...13

Extras...31

Total (5 wkts, 58.2 ov)...305

Fall: 1-15, 2-76, 3-78, 4-282, 5-305.

Bowling: Launder 13.2-1-58-2, Taylor 2-0-20-0, Haupt 14-3-55-1, Rorich 9-0-43-1, Phillips 9-0-51-0, Hill 11-1-75-1.

BANBURY

A Sabin st Russell b Woodroffe...93

I Tew b Sawyer...25

C Haupt run out...65

R Kaufman run out...65

S Beck c Harrison b Woodroffe...2

M Rorich not out...24

D Harding not out...15

Extras...20

Total (5 wkts, 59.3 ov)...309

Fall: 1-51, 2-148, 3-266, 4-270, 5-270.

Bowling: Taylor 14-0-58-0, Cole 8-1-35-0, Sawyer 6-0-38-1, Curzon-Tompson 14.3-1-81-0, Woodroffe 13-0-55-2, Wright 4-0-32-0.

High Wycombe 9 pts, Banbury 23