Bicester & North Oxford heaved a sigh of relief on Saturday when they secured their position in the Premier Division for another season after a 46-run defeat of visitors Radlett.

Some initial gloom had settled over the home side after they had been put in to bat on a track which encouraged the seamers and made battling a watchful business, as skipper Darryl Woods's 27 in as many overs testified.

However, a solid sixth-wicket stand between Connor O'Brien and Stuart Kennedy helped them reach 131 in 62.1 overs.

But Bicester were not out of it by any means, with the consensus being that Radlett would struggle for their runs.

And so it proved. The Radlett batsmen soon found themselves in dire straits as Fielden fell to Graham Savin with the score on one.

Worse was to follow for the visitors as Savin scooped up the ball off his own bowling to steal Thunder's wicket with a brilliant underarm throw.

Evans did his best to stem the tide but Savin was not to be denied, and when Paul Jeacock took three wickets in one over, the writing was on the wall.