With Covid-19 protocols in place involving no sweat or saliva being applied to the ball, players taking hygiene breaks every six overs for hand sanitization and spectators instructed not to touch the ball when it crossed the boundary, the game was somewhat different to what everyone is used to.
But one thing that didn't change was Horspath being unable to end their Banbury hoodoo as the visitors triumphed by seven wickets to make it eight wins from nine Home Counties Premier League meetings with the other match drawn. Following relegation from Division 1 last season, it wasn't a fixture Horspath - led by new captain Lloyd Belcher - were expecting to stage this season but, with the league merging the two sections for the resumption, the north Oxfordshire club were back in the village.
Having been put in to bat for the 40-overs contest played with a pink ball, the home side progressed steadily to 56-1. Zimbabwean opener Pete Ades, a St Edward's School pupil, on his debut and Harrison Ward, back at the club after a spell with Preston Nomads in the Sussex League, played in a controlled fashion before falling to David Whiteley for 21 and 22 respectively. And when the Banbury seamer (3-28) claimed a third victim by dismissing Stephen Green, three wickets had gone down for the addition of seven runs.
Banbury's bowlers tightened their grip from that point with miserly spells from skipper Lloyd Sabin (2-18) and Joe Thomas (1-14). Indian batsman Dwadesh Sehgal, a member of the Oxford MCCU squad, was unable to stop the rot on his debut as Horspath collapsed to 127 all out - the last nine wickets going down for 71 runs.
To have any chance of causing an upset, Horspath needed to take early wickets. Horspath fielded a new-look opening attack in Graham Beer, back at the club for a third spell after spending the last two seasons at Banbury, and Max Smith, who has joined from Tiddington, but they were unable to dislodge Joe White and Michael Burton.
The visitors had 52 on the board, before Belcher made the breakthrough by taking a sharp one-handed caught and bowled chance diving to his right to dismiss Burton for just four. Belcher then had White lbw attempting a reverse sweep for 25 to make it 58-2, but Sabin and Ollie Clarke steadied things for Banbury, moving the score on to 94 before the latter was bowled by the Horspath captain.
However, there was no further joy for the hosts as Sabin finished the game in style with his fourth six in an unbeaten 46 from 44 balls to see the visitors coast home at 130-3 with 15.3 overs to spare. Belcher picked up 3-30 from his eight overs of left-arm spin.
Horspath will be looking for an improvement next Saturday when they face another top-flight side with a trip to Aston Rowant.
Posted by: Russ