Horspath Cricket Club News story

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Horspath win secures Hartwell semi-final spot

09 Jul 2025

Holders Horspath secured a place in the Hartwell Trophy semi-finals by clinching top spot in Pool 1 with a four-wicket victory over Oxford at the Recreation Ground.
The triumph saw the reigning champions complete a perfect record of four wins out of four in the group and now they await to see who they fill face in the last four on Tuesday, August 5.
Horspath's latest success was built on a spirited fightback with the ball after Oxford, on choosing to bat, had raced to 66-1 in the eighth over.
But then Josh Richardson had Manan Parmar caught by Stephen Green for 31 following a second-wicket stand of 65 with Isaac Dikgale.
Horspath's spinners asserted their grip and Dikgale fell for 35 to skipper Amin Rafiq with Tejas Anand pouching the catch.
Jack Hobbs chipped in with 26, but with Amin (3-21) and medium pacer Jehan Mohammed (2-23) leading the way, Oxford were held to 133-8. 
Horspath's run chase got off to a stuttering start, slipping to 38-3 in the eighth over.
But then Viv Narayan and Rayaan Dogar turned the tide in the home side's favour. Narayan had made 36 off 32 balls when he was bowled by Dikgale, leaving Horspath 79-4.
Dogar kept up the attack, though, hammering 39 from 30 deliveries before he was run out by Brendon Smith going for two to make it 113-6 with 15 balls remaining.
It was then left to Josh Richardson (15no), who hitting the winning boundary, and Amin (10no) to see Horspath home at 134-6 with five balls to spare. Captain Jack Wilkins (2-15) was the pick of the Oxford attack.