For the second week running Ant Bullick and Luke Ryan shared 9 wickets between them as Banbury saw off bottom club Farnham Royal. Damian Shriazi and Craig Haupt saw Banbury Home with an unbroken stand of 127.
After Banbury won the toss it was Ed Smith that struck first, trapping left hander Simpson LBW in his first over. Both Smith and Bullick were finding swing despite the hot conditions and Farnham were soon 30-3 and Smith had seen a chance go down in the slips.
Farnham did start to rebuild however, stunted only by Ryan’s first wicket of the game, Warren Miller caught at short mid wicket, and the hosts were 100-4 when Bullick returned for a short burst before lunch. In three excellent overs a slower ball and two yorkers saw Royal 7 down at lunch and the game changed.
Ryan finished the job after lunch with some controlled bowling and Farnham’s 161 was way below par on a very flat wicket.
Chris Smith’s mix up run out was the only alarm Banbury encountered as Farnham’s array of spinners whirled away and although Banbury faced 53 overs there was still over an hour and a half of play left when Shriazi (73) and Haupt (62) saw Banbury to the top of the table.
Thanks to Oxford’s win over Henley Banbury remain top at least until we entertain Henley at Whitepost Road this coming Saturday.
Scorecard courtesy of Nobby Clarke
Innings of Farnham Royal
W.Miller ct.D.Shirazi L.Ryan 39
D.Simpson L.B.W. E.Smith 0
P.Davis ct.I.Hawtin A.Bullick 6
J.Khan * L.B.W. A.Bullick 4
S.Naseri not out 53
M.Ali bowled A.Bullick 29
R.Sanford + L.B.W. A.Bullick 0
S.Hussain bowled A.Bullick 4
I.Bucknell L.B.W. L.Ryan 0
A.Wadood c & b L.Ryan 18
N.Zaigham L.B.W. L.Ryan 0
Extras: b-5, nb-1, w-2. 8
TOTAL 45 overs 10 wickets 161
f.o.w. 1-1, 2-14, 3-30, 4-60, 5-109, 6-109, 7-115, 8-122, 9-161.
Bowling of Banbury
A.Bullick 16-4-50-5, E.Smith 7-0-29-1, C.Haupt 5-0-19-0,
J.Phillips 2-0-18-0, L.Ryan 15-5-40-4.
Innings of Banbury
C.Smith run out 17
D.Shirazi not out 73
C.Haupt not out 62
S.Hole dnb
I.Tew dnb
S.Ali dnb
A.Bullick dnb
L.Ryan dnb
I.Hawtin * + dnb
E.Smith dnb
J.Phillips dnb
Extras: b-7, lb-1, nb-4, w-1. 13
TOTAL 53.2 overs 1 wicket 165
f.o.w. 1-38.
Bowling of Farnham Royal
J.Khan 7-3-15-0, A.Wadood 14-1-45-0, M.Ali 5-2-15-0, N.Zaigham 14-3-36-0, S.Naseri 9-1-18-0, S.Hussain 3-0-22-0, W.Miller 1-0-2-0, P.Davis 0.2-0-4-0