The 4th’s travelled to Warborough on Saturday to play Abingdon Vale 3rd’s in a top of the table clash in Division 8. With both teams slightly understrength on the day, the match turned out to be an interesting tussle between the 2 teams.
Abingdon won the toss and decided to bowl first. Banbury’s opening pair of Martin Phillips and Kieran Scott were very watchful through the early overs, particularly with some early low bounce from the pitch. Martin Phillips was the first to go, caught behind off Sam Moore (U17 County Girls), for 8. Adnan Ahmed, continuing his fine form from last week, and Kieran Scott put on a good partnership before Kieran was next out for 17. Then, in a rush of blood, Adnan was bowled for 42, followed quickly by the skipper, Andy Jones, bowled for 4, to leave Banbury in a bit of trouble at 89-4. However, some good contributions from Iain Woodworth (28), Andrew Pallett (26) and some late blows by Mark Wright and Dan Bartlett saw Banbury compile 176-7 off their 45 overs.
With Banbury’s turn to bowl, the opening bowlers of Mark Pallett and Iain Woodworth struggled to find their line. However, a good catch by Andrew Pallett at square leg off a Woody short ball produced the opening wicket, quickly followed by another one for Woody 3 balls later. A bright partnership from Stuart Cardy and Dan Lanham then took Abingdon past the 50 mark, before James Morgan struck to have Cardy dismissed for 12 to leave Abingdon 58-3. A vital partnership then between Dan and Ben Lanham progressed Abingdon towards Banbury’s total, albeit slowly, but aided by plenty of extras from Banbury and some bad fielding lapses. Once Dan Lanham was bowled by Jams Morgan for 45, the run-rate for Abingdon went out to over 6 runs an over. Despite a late wicket for Woody, the contest eventually petered out to a draw as Abingdon finished on 157-5 off their 45 overs. The best bowlers for Banbury were Woody with 3-26 off 10 overs and James Morgan with 2-55 off 15 overs.
The result ended up in Banbury slipping to 2nd position as Great Tew 3rds won their match. Banbury are now 5 points behind Tew, but 13 points ahead of 3rd placed Abingdon. The crunch will now come Banbury over the next 3 weeks as they face 4th placed Oxford Downs and then 1st placed Great Tew.