An unbeaten 98 from Oxford Downs opener Chris Wakefield guided Oxfordshire Over 50s to a seven-wicket victory over Shropshire in their first ECB 50-Plus Championship game of the season against Shropshire at Banbury yesterday.

Set a target of 204, Oxon lost two early wickets, before Wakefield shared a third-wicket stand of 189 with Cumnor's Gordon Neilson as Oxon sped in with 4.4 overs to spare.

Earlier, a tidy spell by Roger Busby helped to restrict Shropshire to 203-4 on an excellent pitch.

SHROPSHIRE OVER 50

A Lister b Busby...3

D Jones not out...120

A Clarke c Fenn b Bateman...16

B Thomas st Lewis b Garner...30

P Jones c Neilson b Jeffries...12

R Aston not out...4

Extras...18

Total (4 wkts)...203

Fall: 1-4, 2-32, 3-127, 4-191.

Bowling: Busby 9-3-15-1, Jeffries 8-0-43-1, Bateman 6-0-30-1, Wingfield Digby 9-1-43-0, Merry 9-1-34-0, Garner 4-0-25-1.

OXFORDSHIRE OVER 50

C Wakefield not out...98

A Moss b Roberts...0

P Garner b Parkyn...26

G Neilson c Thomas b Brunt...50

P Fenn not out...1

Extras...29

Total (3 wkts, 40.2 ovs)...204

Fall: 1-6, 2-8, 3-197.

Bowling: Aston 9-1-35-0, Roberts 9-1-23-1, Parkyn 6-0-30-1, Thomas 6-1-32-0, Brunt 7.2-0-39-1, P Jones 3-0-33-0.