Bicester & North Oxford took a big step forward in the 2023 Cherwell Cricket League, Division 1 title race.
The Akeman Street based outfit, who started play at the top of the table, entertained second placed Banbury 2nd.
The visitors won the toss and elected to bat, posting 198 all out with Richard Lambden top scoring with 55.
Ryan Moore returned with excellent figures of five for 41 for Bicester & North Oxford.
Zain Stoop made an outstanding 110 as he shared an opening stand of 178 with Callam Goldthorp (72 not out) which set up a nine-wicket win.
Bicester & North Oxford now head the table by 59 points with five games remaining.
Elsewhere, Horspath 2nd (256 for 6) dominated their draw with Didcot (106 for 7).
The ‘path had Alfie Turner (58) top score. He found good support from Dominic O’Connor, Shiryar Ahmed and Peter Healey, who all made thirties. Ryan Hicks hit an unbeaten 48.
Didcot lost early wickets in reply and were always struggling against Erasmus Du Toit, who took four for 41, and Edward Oakley, who claimed three for 34.
Cropredy (94 for 8) beat Aston Rowant 2nd (90 all out) by 2 wickets.
Wickets fell as Cropredy edged home eight down as Rafe Mason took four for 16.
Earlier, Rowant 2nd had captain Alexander Barras hit 32 but for Cropredy, Edward Somerton claimed excellent figures of five for 12.
Jamie Perkin
Jamie Perkin played a skipper’s innings to give Dinton a vital win as they beat Tiddington by 6 wickets.
The former Oxfordshire man hit an unbeaten 93 as they chased down their visitors target of 159 all out.
Westbury (117 for 0) defeated Buckingham Town 2nd (113 all out) by 10 wickets.
Westbury chased down the home side’s total in sixteen overs as Adam Bone made 63 not out and Tanuj Chopra hit 47 not out, both in 44 balls.
Michael Philip returned with four for 11 as Thomas Woodham’s 21 was Town 2nd’s highest scorer.
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | D | T | A | BP | Ded | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bicester & North Oxford 1 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 274 |
| 2 | Banbury 2 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 215 |
| 3 | Horspath 2 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 52 | 0 | 205 |
| 4 | Cropredy 1 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 23 | 0 | 194 |
| 5 | Didcot 1 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 58 | 0 | 181 |
| 6 | Westbury 1 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 26 | 0 | 179 |
| 7 | Aston Rowant 2 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 170 |
| 8 | Dinton 1 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 37 | 0 | 158 |
| 9 | Tiddington 1 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 54 | 0 | 145 |
| 10 | Buckingham Town 2 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 58 | 5 | 67 |
Fixtures for Saturday 5th August
Cropredy 1 vs Didcot 1
Tiddington 1 vs Aston Rowant 2
Westbury 1 vs Dinton 1
Horspath 2 vs Bicester & North Oxford 1
Banbury 2 vs Buckingham Town 2
