GEORGE Sandbach’s unbeaten 71 dragged Oxford Downs into the John Goodman Cup final as they saw off Wokingham by five wickets.

The ex-captain came to the crease with his side 2-2, chasing 136, but steered the hosts home to set up a decider against High Wycombe on Saturday.

It followed an excellent bowling performance from Matt Warner, whose figures of 4-8 from his six overs limited the pooled division winners to a modest total.

The Oxfordshire man removed Archie Carter and Sukhmeet Kang, with Chris Peploe bowled by Lawrence Brock for a duck to leave the visitors 8-3.

Wokingham, led by Danny Housego (75), steadied themselves, but Downs chipped away with regular wickets.

Luke Maslen and Will Watts fell early on as the hosts’ reply got off to the worst possible start, but Sandbach showed his class to see his side home with more than seven overs to spare.

Captain Michael Beard and Oliver Ebsworth-Burland shared an opening stand of 137 to set Thame Town on the way to a 40-run win at home to Horspath in the John Goodman Plate semi-finals.

After choosing to bat, Beard (55) and Ebsworth-Burland (62) both hit half-centuries as Thame got off to a flying start, aided by some wayward Horspath bowling that saw them concede 30 runs in wides.

Skipper Lloyd Belcher (3-41) and Max Smith (2-32) led the visitors’ fightback, but Thame were still able to post 216-8.

Dwadesh Sehgal gave Horspath hope with a classy 71, but after he fell to Kelvin Burrows (3-43) the home side tightened their grip, with Hassam Mushtaq taking 2-32 and Will Rooney 2-21 as the visitors were bowled out for 176.

Thame face Henley in the final on Saturday after they beat Aston Rowant by eight wickets.

The visitors’ 172-7 in the last-four clash did not look enough and so it proved, as their opponents reached the target with almost five overs to spare.

The home side put Josh Smith’s men into bat after winning the toss and quickly gained the upper hand.

Harry Jordan claimed the wickets of Max Mannering and Rishi Pandya in consecutive balls in the fourth over, leaving Rowant 11-2.

Wesley Morrick began to build an innings that would eventually see him dismissed for 54, although Henley would have been delighted to remove Smith for just 12.

James Fitzjohn stuck around for a little while on his way to 38, but Rowant could not keep the run rate high until they smashed 28 off the final two overs, Will Hammersley scoring a quickfire 19 off 12.

The away side had to strike early if they were to have any chance of winning, but openers Michael Williams and Michael Roberts quickly extinguished any hopes of a memorable victory.

The pair put on 80 for the first wicket, before the former was caught and bowled by Mannering for 35.

The Rowant bowler also dismissed Euan Woods, caught by Tom Condon, but Richard Morris (35no) proved an able partner to Roberts (79no).

Oxford face Slough in the 17-20 play-off final after a 24-run win at home to Buckingham.

Dylan Swanepoel and Elliot Matthews starred with bat and ball, hitting 44 and 56 respectively to help the hosts to a competitive 186-7.

Swanepoel quickly put Oxford in charge, claiming the wickets of Robert Large, Matthew Thatcher and Sikandar Rizwan to leave Buckingham 16-3.

But a 106-run stand between opener Leigh Tomlinson (31) and Jonny Cater (63) swung the momentum the other way, with the visitors needing 61 off 82 after George Tait removed Tomlinson.

It started a collapse that saw six wickets fall for just 12 runs and Buckingham eventually slumped to 162 all out, with Mathews claiming three victims in total.

In the 9-12 play-off, a youthful Banbury side were bowled out for just 98 in reply to Burnham’s 235-8 as they lost by 137 runs.

Finals involving Oxfordshire sides (all September 19):

John Goodman Cup: High Wycombe v Oxford Downs (11.30).

John Goodman Plate: Thame Town v Henley (11.30)

John Goodman play-off 17-20: Slough v Oxford (TBC).