Megson secures Banbury a draw to end losing sequence

Banbury bowler Richard West sends down a delivery to Slough batsman Fahim Qureshi as wicket keeper Eddie Phillips looks on

Having elected to field in the division one clash at White Post Road, Banbury captain Lloyd Sabin saw his side make the early breakthrough when Shazad Rana was caught by Olly Wright off Bradley Taylor with 28 runs on the board.

But fellow opener Fahim Qureshi proved a more stubborn obstacle and, after Lloyd Paternott was caught by Richard West off Jack Wilkins, he and Shaan Khan 19 took the score on to 86-3.

Qureshi was finally dismissed for 80 runs, which included six fours, caught by Charlie Hill off West, after he and Zohaib Ahmed carried the visitors on to 153-5.

Ahmed went on to make his half-century off 82 balls before he was bowled by West and Slough closed on 223-7 off their 64 overs with Steven Green remaining unbeaten on 22. West finished with 3-68 while Cheema picked up 2-42.

Banbury had 56 overs to reach the target but got an early setback when Jack Wilkins was bowled by Ikhlaq Nawaz. Fellow opener Craig Haupt and Sabin steadied the ship and put on 79 runs for the second wicket.

Haupt was caught by Nabil Shah off Green for 47 off 90 balls which included seven fours. Sabin and West took Banbury on to 127-4 with Ed Phillips joining his skipper in the middle.

Banbury had the overs in hand to stay on course but wickets began to fall after Phillips 27 was bowled by Green. When Sabin was superbly run out from a direct hit by Shah for 67 runs, which included three fours and a six off 117 balls, that was the end of any realistic chance of the hosts winning the game with Banbury on 156-5.

A couple of more wickets fell as Slough sensed an outright victory but Josh Megson, who hit 21 runs off 26 balls, and Wright batted out to earn Banbury a draw.