Sunday 26 June 2022

Anand and Betts hammer tons in Horspath 3rd's terrific win

OPENER Tejas Anand and Tom Betts hit brilliant centuries as Horspath 3rd recorded their fifth straight win in Cherwell League Division 3A with a stunning 97-run victory at home to leaders Leighton Buzzard Town.

Anand hammered a Cherwell-best 132, while Betts blasted a maiden league century with 108 as Horspath posted 320-7 dec - the second highest score of the day - after being put in to bat.

Tejas Anand cracked 132
Anand struck 23 fours in his 127-ball knock, which saw him better the 115 he made for Horspath 4th at home to Oxford Downs 3rd last year.

Betts, meanwhile, faced 101 deliveries with 17 boundaries. Adam McNeil's 4-47 proved in vain for Buzzard. 

Openers Tom Light (53) and Jack Kempster (41) got Buzzard's run chase off to a good start, but Horspath hit through Stuart Berry (4-64), skipper Ryan Hicks (3-47) and Sameer Hashimi (3-54).

Richard Raine smashed an unbeaten 58 off 46 balls with seven fours and three sixes, while tailender Tom Pope belted 36 from just 13 deliveries with four maximums before Buzzard fell to 223 all out off just 34.4 overs.

The victory moves Horspath up two places to fifth.


Adrian Manger claimed a five-wicket haul before skipper Craig Wharton and Hadi Ali hit half-centuries as Horspath 4th recorded a five-wicket win at Steventon in their Division 5C basement battle.

Manger led the way with 5-27 off 15 overs as Steventon were restricted to 161-8 after being put in to bat. It was the veteran's first five-wicket return since recording identical figures for Horspath 3rd against Cropredy 2nd in 2018. 

Muhammad Dogar (2-40) and Euan Barrett (1-40) provided good support, while opener David Webb (45) and Lalit Chablani (37no) were Steventon's main contributors.

Wharton and Ali then laid the foundations for Horspath's run chase with an opening stand of 76.

Ali was the more fluent, making 51 from 59 balls with 10 fours, before he became the first of three victims for Chablani (3-30).

But Wharton was unmovable, continuing his good run of form with an unbeaten 68 from 115 deliveries with 11 fours to steer Horspath home at 163-5.

The wins sees Horspath leapfrog their opponents at the foot of the table.


Posted by: Russ