TAILENDER Tom King came to the rescue with a belligerent unbeaten half-century as Horspath 2nd held out for a draw on 186-9 at home to Cumnor in Cherwell League Division 1. King produced some lusty blows in an unbeaten 52 to steer Horspath to safety following earlier contributions from Kit Cutter (51) and Jamie Stead (30) before a middle collapse set in as Andrew Russell took 4-45.
Cumnor had posted 250 all out thanks to a late flurry of runs, with Harry Ackland (54) and Cameron Grainger (47) leading the way. There were two wickets apiece for Asad Rafiq, Andy Cummings and Ed Oakley.
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Veteran Adrian Manger carried his bat for an unbeaten 63 to take Horspath 3rd to a draw on 161-9 at Leighton Buzzard 2nd in Division 5. Having restricted Buzzard to 197-9, only Chris Jones (36) provided Manger, who hit ten fours in his marathon 146-ball knock, with any support in a 78-run partnership for the fourth wicket before Andy Smith (5-19) ripped through Horspath's lower order.
Chris Fox took 4-51 in Buzzard's innings, while there were two wickets apiece for Stuart Berry and Tom Smith. Gareth Benger proved a thorn in Horspath's side with an unbeaten 55 of 50 balls, and there were also runs for James Raine (43) and Rhiaan Krynauw (37).
Horspath 4th suffered an agonising one-wicket defeat at home to Sandford St Martin 2nd in Division 7. The hosts were bowled out for 120, before Sandford scraped home at 124-9, despite the efforts of Trevor Spindler (3-24), Ryan Hicks (2-9) and Ceri Holmes (2-31).
Posted by: Russ