Four out of the five HCPCL Division One teams found themselves with 25 points this weekend, with only Banbury and Finchampstead taking a draw.
High Wycombe remain top of the league as they clinch a victory over Great Brickhill despite some last-minute nerves and Navin Kavikara’s spin masterclass.
The left-arm off-spinner enjoyed the torturous sun in the mid-day heat as he tore through High Wycombe’s middle order. Three of his wickets slammed into the shin of the Wycombe batters, removing them quickly and tugging on their heartstrings.
It should have been a relatively simple run chase. Wycombe’s Conner Haddow picked up seven wickets, and now finds himself top of the wicket-takers alongside Louis Delport. Having helped to restrict Great Brickhill to just 153 in 55 overs, the London Road batters would have felt confident going into the second-half.
Billy Dodds continues his run of form, having secured 48*, 148 and now 60 in consecutive games. His partnership with Lincoln of 78 seemed instrumental in chasing down the total, yet Kavikara made things much more difficult. It was down to Max Uttley – who hadn’t even arrived with his batting kit – and Archie Dodds, to see off Kavikara and complete the chase at the other end.
A bitterly close match which will fill Great Brickhill with confidence moving forward, yet High Wycombe will remain confident in the fact they stay 16 points clear of the rest of the field going into tomorrow’s fixtures.
Around the grounds, scorecards remained bleakly low. Only the draw between Finchampstead and Banbury surmounted 200 runs per innings, yet Finchampstead managed to come out with 15 points compared to Banbury’s meagre seven points.
Perhaps, Finchampstead didn’t declare early enough as they added over 300 to the board whilst Banbury were only able to pick up five wickets.
Whilst the top three were removed relatively easily, with wickets shared around between Taylor, Wright and Hill, the middle order each surpassed half-centuries with placed in succession destroys any momentum Banbury would have hoped for.
Both Dan Marles and Tony Albert shared a century in partnership, the former picking up the majority of runs, before Eddie Campion and Ben Salter shared a 98-run-partnership. It’s hard as any bowling side to keep motivation high when the opposition share two hundred-partnerships.
Whilst Marles (64) and Albert (77) were removed from the crease with cautious innings, Campion (53) and Salter (73) remained not out to leave Finchampstead on 308-5 from 61 overs.
it’s with no doubt that Skipper Kieron Coyne was the reason why Banbury managed to hold on for a draw. A true captains innings of 98* from 127 deliveries kept his side in the game. And whilst they were desperately short of the total they required, they managed to pick up some bonus points with 218-7 from 59 overs.
Chris Britz tried his best to search for those final wickets, but had to settle on 4-52 from his 15 over spell.
It was a low-scoring affair at Oxford Downs Cricket Club; a game which may have been completed in record-time.
Begging the question as to whether it was the right decision or not, Stoke Green elected to bat first and were promptly bowled out inside 26 overs for just 96 thanks to Tom Costley who picked up 5-33 in his seven overs.
It would be unlike Oxford Downs to hang around, chasing the total down inside 22 overs. Freddie Smith remained not out with 24, whilst opener Will Watts remained standing too at the other end with 29. Some quick ball-striking from George Sandbach (33) enabled Oxford Downs to pack up their kit and head home for the afternoon.
It was a slightly different affair with Aston Rowant, as they narrowly chased down 142 in the 35th over.
It was a shame for Aston Rowant as no batters got going, each making a start before being dismissed. It was only Josh Mctaggart, batting at nine, who managed to get over 20, as he climbed cautiously to 34* and knocked off the winning runs deservedly for his side.
Henley would have been disappointed with that finish, as they continue their mixed run-of-form in the competition. Despite Charlie Dunnett’s (48 and 4-57) and Johnny Connell’s (38) form both for Henley and indeed for their county, the rest of the squad are unable to quite pin it together – the absence of their skipper Tom Nugent perhaps a key influence on their form.
Wargrave picked up their second win of the league, which will give them some momentum going fowards after a less than promising start to the season with injuries and form influencing their performances.
Having batted first, Harefield were only able to finish up on 187 from 64 overs, Tom McLeod (47) and skipper Stephen Croft (41) underpinning much of the batting. That being said, it must have been an extremely difficult pitch to score runs from, with McLeod’s innings consisting of 117 deliveries and many of the Harefield batters striking at a rate under 50.
Perhaps that was the approach they wanted to take; a calm, cautious and ultimately defensive approach in the hope to attack in the second half with Crofty’s spin.
The plan had almost worked, except it was Thomas McLeod who picked apart the Wargrave lower-order, finding himself with figures of 4-20. Yet, the damage had seemingly already been dealt at the top order.
Opening batsman, Rhys Lewis and Isaac Humphrey both got into the forties before being dismissed. But with a total as low as 187, two set batters allow the rest of the line-up to play more aggressively. Yet, it seemed as if the pitch was difficult for batters, all Wargrave batters playing with strike rates under 50, much like their opposition.
Yet with Mark Firth’s and Humphrey’s partnership of 50 in the mid-portion of the innings, the Harefield total was all but completed and Wargrave’s lower-order ticked off the runs required in the 53rd over, with just two wickets to spare; Neil Robinson holding the fort with a determined 23* from 47 deliveries.
