A scintillating Airey Cup final produced one of the tightest finishes in OCA League history as Garsington crept home off the last ball to snatch the Bosch Power Tools-sponsored competition from Hanborough's grasp at East Hendred on Monday.

Garsington's Clive Woodward clings on to a caught and bowled chance to send back Hanborough's Neil Spearman

On a day which produced 18 wickets, and more than 500 runs, the game contained several sparkling displays and provided the large crowd with nailbiting entertainment.

After Hanborough skipper Matt Busby had won the toss, he unsurprisingly opted to bat on a flat wicket and his side quickly set about building a daunting total.

A rapid opening partnership between Michael Dove and Neil Spearman laid solid foundations, Dove top-scoring with a flowing 68 before being unluckily run out when bowler Graham Wakefield diverted a vicious Rob Lovick drive on to the stumps.

But Hanborough continued to make batting look easy in the middle part of their innings and at one stage, looked quite capable of rattling up over 300. Their cause was helped by some rather erratic Garsington bowling, as they conceded a remarkable 31 wides!

Skipper Busby added his weight with some lusty blows towards the end, plundering 54 off only 35 deliveries, while Steve Prew was the pick of the Garsington bowlers, returning with figures of 3-47.

A target of 252 looked a daunting one for Garsington to chase, especially as Hanborough had bowled them out for just 117 on Saturday in their OCA League clash.

And their task was soon looking insurmountable when they quickly lost opener Richard Wakefield for four and Barry Pudwell for 11.

But with the score at 59-3, Clive Woodward and Wakefield led a spirited counter-attack. Between them, Woodward (46) and Wakefield (66) added 88 for the fourth wicket and reduced the required rate to six an over.

In fact, it was Hanborough who started to struggle in the heat until Woodward holed out to Lester Sillence at long-on.

Wakefield departed first ball after the drinks break, caught at mid-wicket by Busby, and then in the same over, Nick Pym fell to Steve Smith, who finished with figures of 4-79.

This brought about a slow-down in the run rate, and with five overs remaining and the score at 201-8, Garsington could have been forgiven for giving up the ghost.

But an amazing 42nd over gave Garsington the victory scent once more as Prew and Chris Sherwood hammered Smith for 21 runs, and going into the final over, they needed just seven runs for a sensational victory.

Spinner Richard Brown did his best to keep the batsmen in check and it came down to the final ball, with the scores level.

Sherwood clipped the ball off his pads to mid-wicket for a single which brought the house down as Garsington completed a hat-trick of Airey Cup final wins.

LONG HANBOROUGH

N Spearman c & b Woodward 19

M Dove run out 68

L Sillence run out 10

R Lovick b Prew 37

M Busby c & b Pym 54

S Wood lbw Prew 4

D Simpson c R Wakefield b Prew 4

S Smith run out 4

P Rose b Pym 0

D Rose not out 7

Extras 45

Total (45 ov, 9 wkts) 252

Fall: 1-61, 2-100, 3-148, 4-180, 5-194, 6-238, 7-241, 8-241, 9-252.

Bowling: Pym 9-1-57-2, Richardson 3-0-11-0, R Wakefield 12-0-46-0, Woodward 6-2-25-1, G Wakefield 9-0-53-0, Prew 6-1-47-3.

GARSINGTON

N Jones lbw Busby 30

R Wakefield b Smith 4

B Pudwell c Spearman b Busby 11

C Woodward c Sillence b Busby 46

G Wakefield c Busby b Smith 66

N Pym c Dove b Smith 13

S Richardson run out 1

P Hicks b Smith 10

C Sherwood not out 17

S Prew lbw Brown 16

M Ham not out 8

Extras 31

Total (45 ov, 9 wkts) 253

Fall: 1-11, 2-49, 3-59, 4-147, 5-181, 6-186, 7-192, 8-201, 9-234.

Bowling: Smith 12-0-79-4, Simpson 5-0-24-0, P Rose 10-1-60-0, Busby 12-1-40-3, Brown 6-0-35-1.