Overcast as we travelled with a strong team to face top of the league. Normal service was resumed as the toss was lost (W2 L8 for the season) but we were invited to bat first on what looked an excellent wicket.

The opposition opened with a quick and consistent seamer, who offered very little, and our batsmen played this with respect, having to attack the bowling from the other end. After 10 overs, we were 35-1. A change of bowling from the easier end saw the opposition tighten things up, while the opening bowler continued his long spell, going for just 11 runs off 11 overs, with the team 52-2 at the end of his fine spell. After a long battle seeing off the opening bowler, we lost D. Stratford for 8 (53-3), bringing B. Caiger to join Z. Ansari at the crease. The opposition introduced leg-spin to the game, and the first over looked very threatening as the ball turned significantly, and our innings remained in second gear (55-3 off 24 overs). However, our patient start began to pay off as scoring opportunities arose; Zorro and Ben attacked the leg spinner with an array of creative shots, forcing him to lose his rhythm and taking 40 runs off his final 4 overs. The pair added 55 for the 4th wicket, before the former was caught behind for a hard fought 39 (108-4 off 32 overs). P. Cherry, with more licence in the middle order, played with freedom and finesse and the score continued at a good rate, as another 40 were added in quick time. Ben was then caught on the boundary for 40 (148-6), but Paul (42) continued to keep the runs flowing as the lower order attacked the remaining overs. A few late wickets fell as we continued to attack, but we reached 184-9 off our 47 overs, as the revamped middle order properly fired to put us firmly in the game.

Against an excellent team boasting two players who had scored centuries the previous week, we knew we'd have to bowl and field well. N. Babington opened with his usual accuracy, and made an early breakthrough to dismiss one of the opposition openers cheaply (12-1). Nick continued to bowl well, picking up a second wicket as the surviving opener chipped to Duncan at mid-wicket (50-2), but the slower bowling from the other end didn't work as we leaked runs and our fielding began to get a little scrappy. B. Caiger was introduced to the attack and picked up a key wicket in his first over, bowling the No. 3 for 42, who had been beginning to take the game away from us (87-3). Another big wicket quickly followed, as Ben bowled the very handy opposition keeper for a duck, both of last week's centurions now back in the hutch (94-4). The dangerous No. 4 was caught next over with a diving one handed catch by the skipper, giving Nick his third wicket (94-5) and putting us in a strong position. Teams in Division 7 tend to bat all the way down, and the opposition 6 and 7 both looked good cricketers, staging a mini-recovery as they added 35, but three quick wickets followed as M. Claridge (two) and Ben struck again (139-8). Tension built as all results remained possible, but after the 9th wicket, the home team looked to be blocking out for a draw with 4 overs to go. Mark and Ben continued to look threatening, both bowling at the stumps, and the latter took the crucial final wicket as he bowled the No. 11 with the final ball of the 40th over, capping a fine individual performance to record his first Cherwell League five-for (11 overs, 5-49).

Full scorecard: https://www.cherwellcricketleague.com/scorecard.php?MatchID=15772

A hard fought win as we move from 10th to 7th in what remains a very tightly knit league. This proves we can match it with all of the teams in this league and we can approach the rest of the season with optimism [TM].