WESTBURY were unable to polish off Bicester & North Oxford, but had the better of a draw as their push for the Cherwell League Division 3 title continued.

Westbury could not prise out hosts Bicester’s final two wickets, but their 18 points keeps them top with just three games remaining.

Olly Tice (56) and Tom Gurney put on 74 for the first wicket, and with a fluent 43 from Graham Judd and 39 not out from Sam Harper, Westbury set 212-7.

Daniel Clark (3-60) was the pick of the bowlers from 17 overs, while Lewis Moore took 2-29.

Bicester got off to a dismal start in reply, and were quickly on the back foot.

Opener Matthew Collins fell for a duck off the third ball, and he was quickly followed back to the pavilion by Nick Moorman, Alister Gibbins and Joe Moorman.

Bicester were never likely to recover from the 19-4, and when skipper Ryan Moore and Rob Humphreys also fell cheaply, the home side were in deep trouble at 47-6.

They then slumped to 82-8.

But Westbury reckoned without a superb unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 88 between Lewis Moore and Clark, which secured Bicester’s draw.

Moore was in particularly fine form as he struck an excellent 53 not out from 63 balls – a knock containing seven fours and a six.

Charlie Purton was the star performer with the ball for the visitors with 4-37.

l Bicester & North Oxford 6pts, Westbury 18

Horley edged a thriller at Oxford Downs 2nd by one wicket.

James Ellwood’s 82, plus 47 from Darryl Woods, saw Downs to 191-8, Dave Clark taking 4-42.

Horley lost regular wickets in their reply, with Steve Roberts (4-43) the main destroyer.

But Nick Tarrant (38) steadied the ship, helping Horley to 192-9 with three overs to spare.

l Oxford Downs 2nd 13pts, Horley 25

Wolverton Town closed the gap on Westbury to seven points as they thumped East Oxford by 109 runs.

Atif Akhlaq hit 102 as Wolverton racked up 241-9, before Idrees Butt then claimed 5-22 as East Oxford slumped to 132 all out in their reply.

l Wolverton Tn 25pts, East Oxford 6

Jack Rodnight hit 50 not out as Cublington beat Great Brickhill 2nd by seven wickets, easily passing their 88 all out.

l Cublington 25pts, Great Brickhill 2nd 3

Minster Lovell’s Division title aspirations suffered a massive setback as a hapless batting display saw them crash to 68 all out at Bletchley Town.

Only Eddie Dunn and James Merriman managed to reach double figures in Minster’s paltry effort as Arshad Mehmood and Ricardo Brown took three wickets apiece.

In reply, Bletchley lost six wickets, four of which fell to Dunn (4-7), but they edged home at 69-6, meaning Minster lost top spot for the first time.

l Bletchley Tn 25pts, Minster Lovell 6

Veteran Malcolm Evans rolled back the years with a superb 88 as Witney Mills beat Shipton-under-Wychwood 2nd by 69 runs.

Evans and Sam Buckfield (80) helped Mills to a formidable 261-9 dec off 51 overs, Rob Panting taking 4-51 and Joe Cockroft 3-62.

The early declaration proved crucial as Mills, who had a point deducted for a slow over rate dismissed Shipton after 48.2 overs, Ben Madden taking 4-22 and Ollie Burney 3-64.

l Witney Mills 24pts, Shipton 2nd 8

Horspath 3rd were all-but condemned to relegation as they lost by four wickets at Dinton 2nd.

Ollie Chaplin took 3-19 as Horspath were shot out for 106, before Tali Hussain hit 58 not out to steer Dinton home at 107-6.

l Dinton 2nd 25pts, Horspath 3rd 7

Thame Town 2nd had the better of a draw at home to Tiddington 2nd.

Thame posted 231-8, James Nielson hitting 79 and Matt Furness 59, before Tiddington ended on 176-7 as Colin Bird finished 66 not out and John Mackie scored 42.

l Thame Tn 2nd 18pts, Tiddington 2nd 6

Stokenchurch took over at the top of the table, edging past Brackley by three wickets in a low-scoring game.

Josh Trigs took 4-35 and Ashley Hunt 3-13 to send Brackley crashing to 83 all out.

Stokenchurch struggled in reply, but got home thanks largely to Zahid Aslam’s 30 not out.

l Stokenchurch 25pts, Brackley 7

Paul Butcher took a brilliant 6-19 as Abingdon Vale 2nd took another step towards the Division 5 title with a thrilling 13-run victory at home to Kimble in an extremely low-scoring affair.

Steve Skeggs took 5-18 as Vale slumped to 70 all out.

But Butcher was then the hero for the home side as his haul, plus 4-16 from Matt Darley, helped to skittle Kimble for just 57 in their reply.

l Abingdon Vale 2nd 25pts, Kimble 5

Cumnor 2nd kept up the pressure with a one-wicket win at Cropredy 2nd.

Pierre Du Plessis was the star of the show, taking 7-16 in Cropredy’s 133 all out.

Barney Hodder-Williams (60) then held the Cumnor reply together – just – as they edged in at 135-9.

l Cropredy 2nd 11pts, Cumnor 2nd 25

Oxford 3rd became the first side to have their relegation confirmed as they slumped to a four-wicket defeat at home to Leighton Buzzard Town 2nd.

They were dismissed for 135 in 52 overs, Greg Proudfoot taking 4-4.

Buzzard then took 32 overs to reach 138-8 as Andy Smith scored 57 not out.

l Oxford 3rd 8pts, Leighton Buzzard 2nd 25

Kingston Bagpuize slipped to a five-wicket defeat at Long Marston 2nd.

Jordan Smith’s 41 was the main contribution in Kingston’s disappointing 142 all out, Yogesh Mistry taking 6-30.

Paul Young then hit 40 and Paul Marsh 36 to steer Long Marston to 147-5.

l L Marston 2nd 25pts, Kingston Bagpuize 7

Didcot 2nd dismissed hosts Bledlow Ridge for just 95 as they secured a seven-wicket victory.

Andy Griffiths was the pick of the Didcot attack with 4-30.

The visitors then took 36.2 overs to reach 99-3.

l Bledlow Ridge 3pts, Didcot 2nd 25