The 1st XI leapfrogged the previous weeks leaders Slough after a resounding win at Whitepost Road on Saturday.
Having lost the toss, Banbury found themselves batting on a day hampered by a gale force wind continually blowing from the Bloxham direction.
With Chris Smith returning to Cardiff University and Mark Rorich unavailable due to a recurrence of a back injury it was the experienced pair of Andrew Sabin and Paul Taylor to open the batting for the home side. Pakistan ‘A’ fast bowler, Abdur Khan led the attack for Slough and proved to be a handful for the Banbury openers. Khan generated a lot of pace with the wind behind him but this also proved to be instrumental in hampering his bowling figures as he conspired to bowl 19 no-balls in his two spells.
In what was to be a bizarre 11th over, Khan, bowling around the wicket to the left-handed Taylor bowled Banbury’s’ Director of Cricket twice in three balls. Fortunately for Taylor both were off no balls.
Two overs later saw Taylor, who it was fair to say had an eventful match, polelaxed by a vicious beamer from the Pakistani. This came the ball after he had just hit the bowler for four through extra-cover.
Taylor soon recovered and he and Sabin progressed the score steadily and the fifty partnership came up in the 17th over. With lunch in sight Banbury looked to be in total control until a moment of madness from Taylor gave Slough the breakthrough they had been seeking all morning. Off-spinner Shafiq had bowled a very controlled spell and Taylor was out attempting to hit the bowler out of the ground. It was a serious misjudgement that cost him his wicket. He was out for 40 with the score on 84.
After lunch Craig Haupt and Sabin continued to push the score up and added 52 before Sabin, who had reached his fifty in 133 balls a few balls earlier, attempted to hit the spinner over the top and was caught by Ahmed.
Banbury skipper, Richard Kaufman, then came to the crease and faced only 3 balls before being adjudged LBW off the bowling of Tom Lambert. He had scored ten runs off his first two balls but alas his innings was cut short with the score on 146. Haupt completed his fifty off 56 balls in a typically aggressive innings. Steve Beck (15) and Danny Harding (9) helped push the score past 200 batting in tandem with Haupt.
It was then that Slough seized back the initiative. Banbury’s last five wickets falling for the addition of only 18 runs. Khan’s pace (3 for 57) and Russell Lane’s accuracy (4 for 14) saw Banbury’s middle and lower order capitulate. The home side were all out for 225 with more than 7 overs of a possible 66 still to be bowled. A better contribution could easily have seen the score reach 250 plus and the Banbury batsman will need to address this problem quickly to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Slough’s innings began with Russell Lane and Gheyas Khan facing up to Banbury’s regular opening bowling pair of Simon Launder and Ollie Murray. Murray, bowling into a howling gale, provided the breakthrough with the score on just 9. He had the dangerous Lane caught by an athletic Craig Haupt at slip. It was then Launders turn to get in on the act. In an opening spell of 14 overs Launder dismissed Khan (8), Ali Ahmed (20), Amjad Iqbal (21) and Andrew Ward (5) leaving the away team in disarray on 66 for 6. Launder’s figures at the end of that spell were 4 for 31. John Wolstenholme picking up the other wicket of Abdur Khan (1) having replaced Murray at the windy end. Murray and Wolstenholme must be commended for their efforts, as the strength of the breeze was incredible.
Paul Taylor was then introduced and the left-arm paceman quickly accounted for Shafiq and Malik in his first two overs. At 84 for 8 Slough looked dead and buried but some stubborn rearguard action saw Banbury begin to get increasingly frustrated as the overs ticked away. Steve Naylor (29) and Tom Lambert (30) batted sensibly for 16 overs and pushed the score to 117 before Launder, who had been reintroduced to the attack accounted for Naylor. The former Oxfordshire opening bowler finished with figures of 5 for 40 in an excellent display of fast bowling.
Lambert and Nheem Amin continued to frustrate the Banbury attack and for a further 10 overs they held out. It was Taylor, who finished with figures of 3 for 18, who claimed the vital wicket having Lambert adjudged LBW to end their resistance with the score on 146.
It was a very professional bowling and fielding display by a Banbury team who look a very solid unit.
With 25 points from the match and with Oxford losing to Henley, Richard Kaufman’s team find themselves top of the Home Counties Premier League after 4 matches. A position that they will hope to maintain when they visit newly promoted North Mymms this coming weekend.