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| Angus Livingstone secured thrilling win |
But Livingstone had other ideas. Bowling fast and straight, he flattened Anderson's middle stump with his first delivery to end the Chesham batsman's swashbuckling innings of 51 from 32 balls. Yousef Majid then took a single to third man, before Morgan, who made 91 from 99 deliveries with five fours and three sixes, skied the next ball to cover where Horspath captain Lloyd Belcher gratefully accepted the catch.
Chesham picked up a leg bye from the fourth delivery only for Oliver Anderson to edge Livingstone's next ball to wicket-keeper Rob Wight as Horspath bowled the visitors out for 231 to complete an amazing victory.
It was a remarkable finish to a thrilling game, which had earlier seen Harrison Ward hit a brilliant maiden Home Counties century after the hosts had been put in to bat under grey skies. After Horspath had been reduced to 8-2 with James Anderson striking two early blows, Ward took centre stage to hammer 121 from 103 balls with nine fours and nine sixes.
He shared an 88-run stand for the third wicket with opener Tom Coleman, who continued his good run of form by making 40 before being bowled by Majid. Ward was then joined by Darryl Brown with the pair putting on 132 for the fourth wicket.
The Oxfordshire left-hander went to his half-century in style by smashing a delivery from Majid over long off for six. He maintained the momentum, surviving a chance to cover on 97, before completing an excellent century by pushing a single into the offside off left-arm spinner Pip France.
Brown, meanwhile, had stepped up the pace with some lusty blows after a steady start, and reached his half-century two overs later by squeezing a four down to third man off Oliver Anderson. Play was interrupted for 50 minutes by rain before Horspath's final over.
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| Harrison Ward raises his bat after making 121 off 103 balls |
With Chesham's target revised by DLS, Horspath quickly made inroads into the visitors' batting. Will Eason took a simple caught and bowled chance as Matthew Rance presented him with a leading edge with just five on the board. Eason then trapped Josh Drage lbw and with Graham Beer winning a similar decision against Luke Webb, Chesham were 21-3.
With Brown going off with a knee injury, Charlie Turner came on as substitute fielder and saw his brother, Alfie, produce another fine spell of off-spin. The 16-year-old had Andy Goddard caught at slip by Eason to make it 47-4, before bowling Jason Rance for a breezy 27 as Chesham reached 83-5.
Ward got in on the act to have Ben Harris caught behind, and when he bowled Pip France behind his legs for 22 off 10 balls, Horspath were well on top with Chesham 132-7. But then Morgan and James Anderson turned the game on its head with some terrific hitting in an eighth-wicket stand of 97.
Suddenly Horspath were facing defeat, and it took a stunning piece of fielding in the penultimate over by Belcher to keep his side in the game. Anderson looked to have smashed another six only for the Horspath captain to leap high on the boundary in front of the clubroom and palm the ball back infield, and restrict Chesham to two runs.
It set up a thrilling finale with Livingstone (3-29) emerging as the hero of the hour. Eason (2-39), Turner (2-45), Ward (2-53) and Beer (1-29) were the other wicket-takers.
The victory was Horspath's first home triumph in the league since June 16, 2018 when they beat Thame Town by six wickets, and it also gave them back-to-back wins for the first time since victories over Finchampstead and High Wycombe in May 2017.
Posted by: Russ