Having posted 188-9 off their 50 overs after deciding to bat, the home side looked poised for victory with Amersham 121-8.
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| Jehan Mohammed top-scored with 43 |
Amersham skipper Helm had earlier rocked Horspath by removing in-form Pete Ades second ball and fellow opener Will Hawtin - either side of a short rain break - to leave the hosts 13-2.
Shiryar Ahmed and Tom Coleman set about repairing the damage, but when they fell in quick succession to Harsh Parmar, Horspath were 54-4. Jehan Mohammed and Amin Rafiq took the score to 100, before the latter was bowled by Maduka Liyanapathiranage.
Mohammed had been the bedrock of the innings, but when he reached 43 he was lbw to the Sri Lankan off-spinner to make it 134-6. With skipper Patrick Foster run out going for two and debutant Saqlain Choudhary and Will Eason also falling, the visitors remained on top.
It took an unbroken last-wicket stand of 24 between Justin Clarke, who smashed three fours and a six in an unbeaten 26 off 20 balls, and Lloyd Belcher to take Horspath to their final total - but even then, it looked below-par.
The wickets were shared around with Liyanapathiranage and Parmar taking 2-36 apiece, while Helm picked up 2-43.
Horspath's hopes of an early strike were dashed as Amersham openers Adam Francis and Archie Palmer took 32 off the first five overs, before Eason made the breakthrough by trapping the latter lbw.
Belcher came into the attack and removed Manan Parmar and Michael Payne to make it 65-3.
Choudhary, who has joined from Oxford UCCE, took his first wicket for the club when he trapped Liyanapathiranage lbw, and with fellow off-spinner Rafiq having Francis caught by Ahmed for 27, Amersham were 84-5 in the 23rd over.
Spin was doing the trick for Horspath, and Belcher claimed his third victim when Harsh Parmar was caught by Coleman.
Choudhary then bowled Rance and accepted a sharp caught and bowled chance from Harry Fanning to put Horspath in the driving seat. But then Colquhoun and Helm came together to take the game away from Horspath.
Batting positively, they always looked in command of the situation with Colquhoun's runs coming off just 29 deliveries with four fours and two sixes, while Helm was almost as busy, hitting two boundaries and a maximum in his 35-ball knock.
Belcher finished with 3-33, while Choudhary impressed with 3-34. Eason (1-20) and Rafiq (1-23) were the other wicket-takers, while Foster's seven overs cost just 12 runs without reward.
The defeat sees Horspath drop to ninth in the table at the end of the first batch of 50-50 overs games, with the timed matches starting with a trip to Cumnor next Saturday.
Posted by: Russ
Posted by: Russ