Banbury 4th’s beat Division 8 leaders Didcot by 5 wickets at Horton View on Saturday.
Banbury won the toss and decided to put Didcot in knowing they had to produce a win to keep in the Division 8 race. With some very good tight bowling to start with from Adnan Iqbal, Mark Pallet and Charlie Hill, Banbury had Didcot at 75-5 after 24 overs. However a crucial dropped catch of Dave Allen on 0 (not mentioning names Mitch!) cost Banbury as he went on to score 40 and ensure a recovery from Didcot. Some more dropped catches continued to cost Banbury, but as Adnan Iqbal and Mark Pallett returned, Banbury were able to bowl Didcot out for 222 in the 43rd over. The best bowlers for Banbury were Adan Iqbal (4-34), Mark Pallett (2-43) and Charlie Hill (2-28). Tom Hill was unlucky, finishing with 0-37 but having 5 catches dropped off his bowling!
Chasing 223 to win was always going to be difficult but not out of the question for Banbury. After the early loss of Tom White for 14, Mitch and Mike Salmon put on a good partnership of 77 before Mike chipped on in the air to be out for 23. Mitch continued on and brought up his 50 with a 6 over mid-wicket (or was that cow corner Mitch!). However, a couple of quick wickets fell and Banbury were 117-5 after after 24 overs. Although the run rate required was OK, wickets were going to be a problem for Banbury, but Tom Hill and Andy Jones kept chipping away with singles and the odd boundary to keep up at 5 runs an over. Didcott started to feel the pressure and a couple of dropped catches proved costly for them. In the end, Tom and Andy put on 106 runs together to see Banbury home by 5 wickets in the 45th over. Tom (in his first game of the season) finished 41 not out and Andy Jones on 51 not out.
The win kept Banbury in 5th place, now only 28 points off 2nd place and 13 points off 3rd place, so still well in the race for a top 2 finish this year.
Many thanks again to Peter Scott for scoring for us all day!