Burnham CC fail to capitalise on Julian Cup final glory
By Rob Stevens • Published 23 Jul 2012 12:47
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Eversley celebrate the wicket of Harmeet Chana during their six wicket win on Saturday.
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BURNHAM CC failed to capitalise on the successful defence of their Julian Cup title after an 18-run defeat at Banbury on Saturday.
The Oxfordshire-based side set Shaid Nadeem's men a target of 137-9 but last season's Division Two West champions narrowly failed to chase down the total.
Despite the loss, Burnham remain 11-points above Division One's relegation spots with a difficult trip to Harpenden up next this Saturday.
Elsewhere, in Division Two West, Slough closed the gap on leaders Dinton to 18 points after an 82-run win at Thame Town - their fist victory since June 2.
Their chances of winning promotion into Division One, however, remain in the balance after a nearby blocked stream continues to flood their Upton Court Park home.
Bobby Sher's men set Thame a modest target of 153 with Shaan Khan (42) and Raheel Zaman (38) contributing over half of the runs and Vandit Jivrajani leading the home side's bowling attack with figures of 4-41.
But Slough paceman Zulfiqar Butt ripped through the Thame batting line-up returning figures of 6-14 - including 11 maidens - to dismiss the hosts for just 71.
Skipper Sher chipped in with three wickets of his own (3-27) while Jivrajani top scored for Thame, making 20 before he was caught by Butt off the bowling of his captain.
Farnham Royal, however, are now 23 points adrift of safety at the bottom of the division after a four-wicket loss at high-flying Aston Rowant.
Royals posted a competitive target of 177 thanks to an innings of 42 from Arshad Zashan at number nine and 32 from opener Daniel Simpson and Javed Khan in the middle order.
Glenn Carlton was the pick of the Aston bowler's with 5-51 while Wesley Morrick and Chris Leaney returned two wickets apiece.
And the host's reply got off to a good start when Tim Morgan and Chris Watling made a stand of 96 for the first wicket before both were sent back to the pavilion after being trapped leg before wicket by Christopher Esh and Khan respectively.
Oliie Clayson's side were on top with Aston reduced to 118-5 but a priceless victory was snatched from their grasp when captain Morrick smashed an unbeaten 36 to keep his team in the race for the title.
Datchet opened up a 22-point lead at the top of Division 2a of the Thames Valley Cricket League after victory in their top of the table clash at North Maidenhead.
The still unbeaten leaders won the toss and elected to bat first but could only set a target of 127.
Nick Tilley, however, - recently returned from his honeymoon - was determined to defend the modest total and took figures of 7-30 as North Maidenhead were bowled out for just 78.
Windsor remain safely in mid-table despite a six-wicket loss at Eversley - the win moving the Hampshire-based side above North Maidenhead into second.
Adam Weston's Windsor set a target of 154 that the hosts chased with relative comfort thanks to an innings of 81 from overseas all-rounder Simon Mugava.
And as expected there was no play at Upton Court Park between the division's basement boys Slough 2nd XI and Basingstoke & North Hants 2nd XI due to a waterlogged square.
Boyne Hill kept the pressure on Division 2b leaders Chesham with a 40-run win against Newbury at Northcroft Lane.
Kevin Mills returned impressive figures of 5-14 as Boyne Hill were dismissed for just 94. But Newbury lost all 10 wickets for just 54 runs to remain rooted to the bottom of the division.
Maidenhead & Bray dropped a place to third in Division 3b after a five-wicket home defeat against Wooburn Narkovians.
Wooburn captain Dave Small choose to bowl first at Victoria Cottage and the decision was proved right when Martin Tennant took 6-31 to help dismiss Maidenhead for 110.
The visitor's lost only half of their wickets, chasing the total down after five balls of the 40th over.
Stoke Green put last week's heavy Julian Cup final defeat behind them when cruising to a 10-wicket win at Bracknell.
Richard Parker ripped through Bracknell's battling line-up returning figures of 8-38 as Division 4b's basement boys were bowled out for just 68.
And Stoke Green knocked off the runs in just 43 balls - with Gully Khan smashing 54* - to go 10 points clear of Kew 2nd XI at the top.
Finally, Farnham Common slipped to fifth in Division 5a after a 41-run loss against Sonning 2nd XI at King George's Field.
Farnham captain Scott Wilcox took 5-14 as the league leaders were dismissed for 152 before Farnham's reply ended with the score on an unlucky Nelson - 111.
SEE Friday's Observer for match reports and and a full preview of this weekends action.
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