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Banbury's outside chance of catching Henley at the top of Division 1 disappeared as they went down away to Slough.

Chasing 248 for victory, the north Oxfordshire side fell well short as they were bowled out for 186.

They are now 57 points behind Henley with three games left in the campaign and their chances of winning the title are now purely mathematical.

Instead it is Slough who are now Henley’s main pursuers, although they are just ten points closer than Banbury, and surely also out of the running.

Richard West was the top scorer for Banbury with 64 from 74 deliveries, but the only real support he got was from Justin Lambden, who made 38.

The pair put on 110 for the fifth wicket after Banbury had been reduced to 31-4.

But after West had fallen leg before to Bobby Sher, the visitors subsided fairly quickly.

Sher and Gheyas Khan were the most succesful bowlers for Slough, each claiming three wickets.

Only two Banbury players other than West and Lambden made it into double figures.

Earlier, Banbury had won the toss and opted to bowl first.

They made an early breakthrough when Brady Barends had Nabil Shah caught behind, and there was more good news for the away side when Lambden caught Waqas Hussain off the bowling of Olly Wright to leave Slough 39-2.

But this was as good as it got for Banbury.

Shahid Yusaf top-scored for the hosts, making 88, and he received fine support from Feroz Baig (48).

Barends, Luke Ryan and skipper Jimmy Phillips all finished with two wickets each for the Oxfordshire side.

Scores: Slough 248 (50 ovs, S Yusaf 88, F Baig 48, G Khan 33), Banbury 186 (42 ovs, R West 64, J Lambden 38, G Khan 3-29, Z Sher 3-41).