A SPECTACULAR unbeaten century from Nathan Hawkes proved in vain as hosts Banbury lost by five wickets to Slough in a high-scoring Division 1 clash.

It is a defeat that seriously dents Banbury’s title chances.

Hawkes scored 100 not out from 82 balls as Banbury declared on 273-4 from 63 overs.

But Slough, thanks to 130 from Nabil Shah, got home with more than ten overs to spare.

All the Banbury batsmen enjoyed themselves after being put in to bat.

Lloyd Sabin (59) and Craig Haupt (71) added 126 for the first wicket to lay the platform for Hawkes, whose innings contained one six and 15 fours.

This allowed Banbury skipper Jimmy Phillips to declare an over early.

The loss of Waqas Hussain did not deter Slough, who went along at five-runs per over.

Even the reliable Luke Ryan could not contain Shah, whose 130 came off 116 balls and contained eight sixes.

Shahid Yousaf, with 67 not out from 79 deliveries, eased Slough to a surprisingly easy success.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.

Latest Sport news