In the Home Counties Premier League, Oxford Downs and High Wycombe Remain Top, Whilst Finchampstead Keep Win Streak
CREDIT: Home Counties Premier League & ETDC Digital Media
Premier Division 1
It was a tell-tale story of Oxford Downs continuing their 50-over domination with a 100-run victory over Wargrave, who have come up short this year, and find themselves bottom of the table, having only won one game.
Putting 298 on the board would always be difficult for the struggling side. But it was Will Watts’ day as he produced his first century of the year in fine style. A collected innings of 141 balls enabled George Sandbach to bat with slightly more license at the other end.
The 159 partnership dealt enough damage, as the two batters enjoyed time at the crease, totalling 11 fours and 3 sixes between them.
Wargrave tried to get going, but their batters failed to make any real headway. Delport and Welch dealt the majority of the damage with the ball, picking up three wickets each. By that point, the game was done, and Wargrave was left stranded in the 40th over, 100 runs short.
High Wycombe won by considerable margins over Harefield after George Russell and Dan Lincoln picked up maiden centuries for the club.
Russell was more patient, batting most of the innings and facing 119 balls. He still totalled more boundaries than Will Watts with 8 fours and 4 sixes. The partnership between the pair consisted of 207 runs, and Dan Lincoln’s 134 came quickly, from just 108 balls as he blasted 16 fours and 5 sixes.
352 was always going to be out of Harefield’s reach as they scrambled to 200 all out in the 49th over. Once Cameron Parsons dismissed dangerman Severin for 45, the Harefield batters showed a real lack of application, with only five players getting into double figures.
Once again, Conner Haddow picked up 4-18 off his 10-over spell, and Max Uttley picked up 3-29 in a day favouring spin.
Finchampstead continued their run of form, remaining undefeated.
They took on Aston Rowant and won by 107 runs. They were the only other team to score above 300 this weekend, mainly due to Gregory Smith and Chris Britz.
Gregory Smith is averaging over 55 so far this year, with 167 runs from just 3 innings. He amassed 25 fours and a single six, picking up 20% of his team’s runs. With him, alongside Britz, who this year alone has struck 245 runs across all formats, with a century and half-century already ticked off, Finchampstead looked poised for another victory.
Yet, none of the final six batters managed to get above 10, which begs the question: how large the Finchampstead score could have been had Britz and Smith continued their rampage?
Mathews did his best to mitigate the barrage of runs being dealt by Finch, with four wickets of his own. But with the bat, no one in the Rowant camp put their hands up to take the game forward.
A couple of thirties from Mctaggart, Mathews, and Condon allowed them to climb to 197, but they ultimately fell well short of the target without real application.
Bulteel and Britz shared the celebrations with the ball as they picked up three wickets. Britz was the slightly more economical of the pair, only conceding 27 runs in his ten-over spell.
Stoke Green upset Henley, bowling out last year’s champions for just 159 in the second innings.
Having batted first, Stoke Green climbed to a par-score of 214 with Shivam Mishra anchoring the innings at six. With 70 on the board from him and a further 31 added by Passikku Madusanka, the late innings striking put Stoke Green in a defendable position. With Singh adding a quick 20 and Abbasi doing similarly, Stoke Green’s innings consisted of a few individuals chipping in whilst Mishra was in dominant form.
Jon Denning picked up another three wickets as he continued his form for Henley. He was economical, too, having only conceded 30 runs in his 10-over spell.
Besides Charlie Dunnett, who is seeing success at both the HCPCL and NCCA levels, Henley failed to find much form with the bat. Ideally, needing someone to partner up with Dunnett to add to the flow of runs, Henley weren’t quite able to chip in like their rivals.
Dunnett’s innings cannot be ignored, though, as he made 88 from 110 balls, including 13 fours and a six. In his four games, he’s amassed 279 runs at an average of almost 70, showing that he’s the batter that Henley is relying on this year.
Shivam Mishra was the talk of the day. Not only did he hold the bat for his side and keep them going, but he also dealt the most damage with the ball, picking up 3-30 in eight overs. Both Butt and Madusanka also picked up two each, and Henley was left 55 runs short in the 45th over.
Finally, Great Brickhill managed a surprising victory over Banbury, who have had a mixed start to the season.
Winning the toss and electing to bat ultimately paid off, as both Taran Toor and Jonathan Cater picked up half-centuries.
Toor’s 75 from 114 was just another notch in his tidy belt, as he’s been averaging just over 42 so far this year. With 128 runs in just three innings, he’s poised to be the dangerman for the Brickhill batters and arguably someone teams need to target early on with the ball.
Banbury looked promising as both Joe White and Arjun Ramkumar picked up half-centuries of their own. But perhaps, they played it too cautiously, with Coyne adding 37 and Tait totalling 23.
Having struck nine from the penultimate over, Banbury would have been full of confidence, requiring just 10 from the final over. But some tight bowling from Raykar picked up a wicket on the first ball, dismissing the in-batsman George Tait and ultimately won the game for his side.
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Wokingham are the unbeaten leaders in Division Two
After the first four games of the season, Tom Hampton’s side have remained undefeated in the 50-over competition.
Wokingham‘s latest victory came following a successful chase against Horspath.
Horspath opted to bat first after winning the toss but with the exception of Tom Coleman (63) and Sravan Konidena (32) the home side kept the opposition in check. The experience of Berkshire seamer Andy Rishton, three for 44 from ten overs, doing early damage before removing top scorer Coleman.
The visitors closed on 221 for 9 from their 50 overs but returned to field with a positive start. Seamer Asad Rafiq claimed three early victims as the leaders were soon 28 for 3. As with the previous game, former Middlesex batter Dan Housego helped his side weather the storm as with Imran Malik the pair shared a fourth-wicket partnership worth 88 runs which proved vital. Housego reached his third half century in succession (94 balls and 106 minutes) before departing for 62. Malik recorded a 72-ball fifty before being removed shortly after (51) and Sukhi Kang (30) helped take his side towards victory before the Oaks got across the line with 19 balls to spare and six wickets down. Rafiq finishing with excellent figures of four for 37 from his ten overs.
Henry Walsh’s aggressive 87 at the top of the order was the highlight as Gerrards Cross eased to an eight-wicket win over the previously unbeaten Oxford at Dukes Lane.
Walsh hammered 11 fours and 3 sixes as his 87 runs came off just 74 balls in 81 minutes, while George Harvey chipped in with an unbeaten 39 in 37 balls in a successful chase.
Earlier in the day, only opener Julian Laird’s knock of 55 was notable as Oxford were dismissed for 170 all out in 47.1 overs. The home side’s bowling attack shared the wickets; James Dalby, Patrick Smith, Teddy Fleming and Harry Spear picking up a brace apiece.
Slough are up to third in the division after defeating Chesham by 59 runs at the Eddie Thompson Oval.
After choosing to bat, Slough recovered from 76 for 4 to post a competitive 252 for 9. Umair Mushtaq hit 2 fours and 3 sixes in his 24-ball, 35 from his opening berth. Sahaan Sahaan also made an excellent half century (53 from 58 balls) before Yash Lakhani made a run-a-ball 40 from number eight. Mohammed Avas, who batted a place up the order, finished undefeated with a fifty not out. The visiting captain Jonathan Burden, along with Kamran Khan and James Anderson all taking two wickets.
Matt Rance opened with 42 for Chesham and he found good support from Henry Moore (39). The game turned as the visitors lost four wickets for just 22 runs and they never recovered. Slough captain Nadeem Syed the pick with three for 32 from a tidy ten-over stint.
Datchet harvested runs as they made it back-to-back wins with an 86-run victory over Thame Town at The Wally Gage Memorial Ground.
After losing their opening two fixtures, Datchet have displayed bouncebackability with Nick Kimber a standout performer in the division’s 2025 season. The former Surrey player and Jack Laraman broke Datchet’s league record for a fourth wicket partnership as they added 174 runs to the scoreboard. It beat the previous record of 150 between Jonty Jenner (96) and James Morris (62) at Burnham on 25th August 2018.
Laraman hammered 78 runs from 53 balls, including 6 fours and 5 sixes, while Kimber was dismissed for a fine hundred, hitting 17 boundaries (12 fours and 5 sixes), in 79 balls.
Earlier, Murad Khan struck nine boundaries (6 fours and 3 sixes) in his 33-ball, 43 runs, batting at three, before Datchet closed on 369 for 9. Alex Browne’s slow right-arm claiming three for 58.
The Thame chase was always going to be a huge ask, and they gave it every effort. Browne’s 74 runs came from just 58 balls with thirteen boundaries (8 fours and 5 sixes), while Dinny Malan (40) and skipper Hassam Mushtaq (37) also contributed. They were pegged back by the home side’s attack who stuck to their task on a high scoring day. Girish Radhakrishnan (3-49) and Murad Khan (3-37) claiming the poles to take their side to maximum points.
Falkland ensured maximum points as they defeated Bicester & North Oxford by 148 runs, which moves them into seventh place.
Skipper James Bird led from the front as he scored 61, with Richard Morris chipping in with 31. A 96-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Seb Chapman and Chris Baker took Falkland close to 300 as they closed on 295 for 8. Chapman hit eleven boundaries (10 fours and one six) in his 64, while Baker accumulated 62 from just 61 balls. Seamer Daniel Savin and the left arm spin of Farhaan Khan both took three wickets. Savin (3-41) and Khan (3-60).
Bicester & North Oxford’s batting line-up never fired and with the exception of Savin who scored a run-a-ball 33 from the seventh position, the Oxfordshire club were bowled out for 147 in just 39.3 overs. Bobby Brown returned with four for 28.
