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| Liam Manley impressed with 5-27. Picture: www.sportsshots.org.uk |
Kulkarni hammered four boundaries and two sixes in his 51 from 63 balls as Horspath recovered from 2-2 to post 154 all out after electing to bat. He shared a third-wicket stand of 55 with Shahbaz Ali (24), before Alex Thomas hit a handy 28 down the order, with Ben Clark (3-37) and Daniel Clark (3-51) among the wickets for Bicester.
Manley made an early breakthrough in the Bicester innings, before Markus Jeacock and Staff Sansome took the score to 55. But then Mohson Rana removed Sansome to spark an almighty collapse, which saw the hosts lose seven wickets for 22 runs as Manley and Kulkarni ripped the heart out of the Bicester batting.
The home side's ninth-wicket pair of skipper Ryan Moore and Daniel Clark provided stubborn resistance with a stand of 36, before Alfie Turner removed the latter for 23 with Kulkarni taking his second catch.
It was left to the Indian all-rounder to complete a memorable win with what he described as "the best ball I have bowled in my life" as his off-spinner turned to hit the top of middle stump and bowl Moore for 25, and send Bicester crashing to 120 all out.
Manley finished with impressive figures of 5-27 from 15 overs, while Kulkarni's 3-31 came off 11.2 overs. The victory saw Horspath avenge their opening-day ten-wicket defeat by Bicester, who were also knocked off top spot by Banbury 2nd.
Posted by: Russ