HORSPATH ended their Home Counties Premier League Division 2 season with a six-wicket defeat at home to Wokingham, who secured promotion in a game which was almost a carbon copy of the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign.
Put in to bat as they had been back in early July, Horspath once more collapsed in spectacular style - this time to 47-8 - before finally being bowled out for 118.
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| Will Eason. Picture: www.sportsshots.org.uk |
The defeat saw Horspath drop a place in the table to finish sixth, while Wokingham leapfrogged Oxford Downs - who lost by 117 runs at Chesham - to take the second promotion spot behind champions Slough.
As in the encounter of two months ago - when the side slumped to 64-8 before eventually being 103 all out - it was only late resistance from Will Eason and captain Lloyd Belcher which saw Horspath scramble past 100.
They put on 28 at Wokingham, but doubled that this time with a club record ninth-wicket stand for the Home Counties of 56. Eason was unbeaten on 34, while Belcher made a league-best 27.
The rest of the order had been blown away by the right and left-arm seam combination of Andy Rishton (4-36) ansd Callum Creighton (3-23), while Sulaiman Hussain, Horspath's leading run scorer, made 18 to take his tally to 470 for the season before falling to off-spinner Max Uttley.
Eason and Belcher, though, showed what could be achieved against Wokingham's attack. Batting with great assurance, they put on 50 from 74 balls and when Eason clipped a delivery down to fine leg off Iain Muirden it saw them surpass Horspath's previous best stand for the ninth wicket.
Eason had also featured in the previous record, having shared 55 with Kit Cutter against Great & Little Tew in 2014.
And it was only a fine catch by Chris Peploe, diving to his left at backward point, which ended their partnership as Belcher fell to Muirden.
Horspath's total was never likely to be enough, but there was still interest in whether Anupam Sanklecha could add to his tally in the race to be the division's leading wicket-taker.
He went into the game tied on 38 with Great Brickhill captain Garth Davson and Amersham skipper Sam Helm, but was unable to make the breakthrough as openers Peploe and Archie Carter got Wokingham's run chase off to a flying start.
They had put on 45 for the first wicket, before Belcher's left-arm spin accounted for the pair courtesy of catches by Hussain. Archer was first to go for 16, before Peploe fell for 30 to leave Wokingham 57-2.
Jehan Mohammed bowled a tidy seven-over spell for 18 runs without success, while Sanklecha also continued to be frustrated by the Wokingham batsmen after returning to the attack.
The Indian paceman went wicketless as did Helm for Amersham against Slough, but Davson struck twice against Burnham to finish top of the standings with 40 wickets.
It was left to off-spinner Luke Heritage to take the only other two wickets to fall with Wokingham captain Danny Housego caught behind by Will Hawtin for 16, while Rishton provided Hussain with a third catch.
But there was no stopping the visitors and they eased to victory - and promotion - at 119-4. Belcher returned fine figures of 2-21 from eight overs, while Heritage picked up 2-8.
Posted by: Russ