BANBURY cruised to a seven-wicket victory at High Wycombe in Division 1.

A fine all-round bowling display saw the hosts all out for 169 in the 61st over, Olly Clarke the pick of the attack with 3-38.

Banbury’s top four then all chipped in with runs as they eased to 170-3 in the 52nd over.

Left-arm spinner Lloyd Belcher took 6-47 as Horspath moved off the bottom with a battling draw at home to Tring Park.

Defending 228-8 after being put in to bat, Horspath looked to be heading for a sixth straight defeat as Tring openers David Burnell (55) and AJ Woodland (54) put on 120 for the first wicket.

To add to the home side’s woes, South African overseas star Darryl Brown and young off-spinner Luke Heritage suffered knee injuries and left the field before going to hospital, with the hosts using 15 players as substitutes were shuttled on and off.

But amidst all the changes, Belcher, the top-flight’s leading wicket-taker, triggered a dramatic collapse as Tring lost seven wickets for just 37 runs before Michael Payne and Mohamad Choudhry steered the visitors to the close at 184-7.

Earlier, Horspath had slumped to 37-4, before Brown, with 75 from 144 balls, and Tom Cosford (30) put on 78 for the fifth wicket.

Jamil Faruq (34no) and Belcher then shared an unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 53 to take Horspath to their final total.

Aston Rowant lost by four wickets at leaders Henley.

Having been asked to bat, Rowant lost wickets at regular intervals and were dismissed for 131 in the 62nd over, Chris Watling

top-scoring with 30.

The table-toppers did not have it all their own way in reply, however, slipping from 81-1 to 82-4.

But Tom Scriven (31no) stood firm to help Henley home at 135-6 in the 40th over.

  • BANBURY yesterday won the Home Counties Premier League T20 competition at Amersham.

OXFORD were dealt a big blow in their Division 2 title bid after crashing to an eight-wicket defeat at Harefield.

Their lead at the top is now down to nine points, with their rivals leapfrogging Thame Town to go second.

Oxford, put into bat, lost Owyn Tong-Jones to the first ball as they slumped to 20-4.

Although the middle order tried to rebuild the innings, nobody was able to get a big score as they were all out for 138 in the 38th over.

Harefield wasted little time in securing victory, Michael Barry unbeaten on 64 as they reached 140-2 in the 23rd over.

Thame slipped to third after drawing against Burnham.

Olliver Ebsworth-Burland hit a superb unbeaten 105 to help the promotion hopefuls score 260-5, Hassam Mushtaq adding a rapid 78 off just 47 balls.

Thame were then thwarted by Raza Ali Dar, whose 92 kept Burnham in the game as they closed on 190-7.

As a result of the draw, Thame lost second place to Harefield, but are just one point behind their rivals and 11 off top spot.

Will Watts hit a superb unbeaten century for Oxford Downs, but they could only draw their against bottom side Dinton – the first time they have avoided defeat this season.

Watts hit 113 not out, with Richard Sillars (68), Freddie Smith (56) and George Sandbach (50) all adding half-centuries as Downs declared on 327-3.

Skipper Will Fisher then scored 83 for Dinton, who held on for a draw at 237-7.