Horspath Cricket Club News story

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Horspath fall to defeat at local rivals

12 Jun 2023

HORSPATH came off second best at local rivals Oxford with an eight-wicket defeat in their Home Counties Premier League Division 2 encounter.
Having chosen to bat first at the Oxford University Press Sports Ground, the visitors found it tough going against an accurate Oxford attack, who restricted the side to 185-9 off 58 overs.
Horspath had reached 55-1 when they lost three wickets for six runs including opener Jimmy Phillips for 27 on a pitch which the home side's bowlers were able to extract some assistance from.
While most of Horspath's batsmen got a start no-one was able to make a significant contribution to turn the tide in the visitors' favour.
Minhaj Jaill and Stephen Green took Horspath to lunch at 93-4 off 29 overs, but they had only added ten runs after the interval when the Sri Lankan all-rounder was bowled by Dylan Swanepoel for 25.
Horspath were in trouble at 133-7, but Green dug in to top score with a gritty 46 and guide the side to their final total with skipper Will Eason unbeaten on 17 at the close.
Swanepoel (3-23) was the pick of the Oxford attack with skipper George Tait (3-42) and Harvey Jupp (2-45) also among the wickets.
A rain interruption early in the Oxford innings saw the home side's allocation reduced by five overs, but this proved immaterial as they coasted to 186-2 off 39.1 overs.
After tea was taken at 15-0, the pitch offered little help to Horspath's bowlers following the shower, and it took a run out to provide the breakthrough with Shiraz Husain falling for 17 to make it 36-1.
Jehan Mohammed then trapped fellow opener Vishane Perera for 41 to give Horspath some hope at 83-2.
However, this was swiftly extinguished by Swanepoel and Tait with the pair batting fluently to each make 62 not out as Oxford raced to victory with an unbroken third-wicket stand of 103.
Eason rang the changes with his bowlers, but it couldn't stop the Oxford duo piling on the runs.
Swanepoel, whose 63-ball knock included seven fours and a six, was the first to his half-century with a single to mid-wicket.
He was quickly followed by Tait, who brought up his fifty by pulling a short-pitched delivery to the deep square leg boundary, before securing victory in style with a six to add to his seven fours.