Oakley and Hicks shine as Horspath 3rd march on

ED Oakley took 6-50 and skipper Ryan Hicks hit an unbeaten 69 as Horspath 3rd made it four successive wins in Cherwell League Division 3A with a three-wicket victory at Bledlow Ridge.

Oakley bowled with great consistency of line and length to send the home side crashing to 137 all out after being put in to bat.

Ed Oakley starred
with a spell of 6-50

His excellent figures came off 17 overs, which included six maidens, and were his best return for Horspath - although some way short of the 9-39 he took for Oxford & Bletchingdon Nondescripts in 2009.

He struck four times to reduce Ridge to 32-5 after Hicks made the initial breakthrough, before Bledlow's lower order rallied with Hamzah Ahmed smashing a breezy 47. Oakley added two more victims, while Stuart Berry and Joe Gibbs were the other wicket-takers.

Horspath were in trouble at 14-3 and 33-4 as Mark Dakin (4-52) made early inroads. But then Hicks took centre stage with an excellent knock to steer the visitors to victory at 141-7.

He received early support from Lukas Yendole (24), but as wickets continue to fall at the other end, Hicks was unflustered and continued to bat fluently with his runs coming off 70 balls, which included 12 fours.

Horspath 2nd's game at Division 2 leaders Brackley was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain.

Horspath 4th slid to an eight-wicket defeat at home to second-placed Challow & Childrey 2nd in Division 5C.

Skipper Craig Wharton was the only Horspath batsman to show any resistance with 37 at the top of the order as the hosts were bowled out for 108 after being put in to bat. Alex Dawson (5-25) and Adam Farmer (3-15) did the damage.

Euan Barrett and Chris Hotchen took early wickets in Challow's innings, before the visitors swept to victory at 109-2 with Alex Lynch hammering an unbeaten 65 and opener Mike Konschel making an unbeaten 28.

Posted by: Russ