Oxfordshire finished their Western Division campaign with a flourish as they defeated Devon by 74 runs at Sidmouth.

It was a remarkable turnaround after they were rolled over for just 76 on the first day.

Left-arm spinner Luke Ryan was the hero, taking 5-58 as the home county were dismissed for 194 in their second innings.

The win put the seal of some excellent end-of-season form which should earn Oxon a third-placed finish in the table behind front-runners Berkshire and Dorset.

Resuming their second innings on 367-9, a lead of 260, Oxon’s last pair survived only 15 balls before one of the previous day’s batting heroes, Daniel Rowe, succumbed for 90, caught off Ian Bishop. Young Tom Geeson-Brown finished unbeaten on 14.

Facing a victory target of 268, Devon must have fancied their chances, but they were soon in trouble.

Just as on the first day when the visitors were back in the hutch in quick time, the ball moved around in the air and made batting difficult.

Openers Chris Mole and Matt Thompson were quickly dismissed for two and nought respectively, Mole caught behind by skipper Ian Hawtin and Thompson clean bowled by Geeson-Brown.

Another of Oxon’s prospects, Ashley Blanchard, then sent back the dangerous Bob Dawson for 14.

By this time, Devon were out of the hunt as far as victory was concerned and the middle order offered scant resistance.

Neil Hancock dug in to make 28 before falling to David Smith, but the writing was on the wall at lunch with their score teetering at 94-6 off 25 overs.

Things got even worse after the interval with two wickets going down off the first two balls, both to Ryan.

Trevor Anning was trapped leg before for one and then Bishop was snapped up by Craig Haupt next ball.

Josh Bess was the only batsman to offer much defiance, holding up one end while wickets tumbled at the other.

Ryan picked up his fourth wicket with another lbw to get rid of Chris Bradley, before Bess found an unlikely ally in No 11 Chris Metters.

He came to the wicket with the score on 112-9 and the pair stubbornly kept Oxon at bay for the next 30 overs, adding 82 in the process.

It was fitting that Ryan should have the last word with a superb diving caught and bowled to end Metter’s defiance for 20, leaving Bess stranded on 88 not out.

Ryan’s final analysis was 20.1-5-58-5, while Rowe captured 2-48.

Banbury seamer Blanchard’s reward for a tidy spell were excellent figures of 11-6-15-1.

Scores: Oxon 76 (I Bishop 6-46) & 375 (D Rowe 90, C Knightley 89), Devon 183 & 194 ( J Bess 88no, L Ryan 5-58).