Patterson and West get Banbury back on track

Banbury beat basement boys Harefield by 36 runs in Saturday’s division one fixture at White Post Road.

After losing Craig Haupt early on, Banbury scored steadily throughout the order.

Fellow opener Hugo Darby 40 did his bit but it was Patterson who produced the bulk of the runs at the other end.

Ashley Blanchard 18 and Patterson took Banbury on to 167-5 before the Australian left-hander and Luke Ryan 40 edged them closer to the 200-mark when he departed.

Captain Lloyd Sabin declared on 228-8 in the 63rd over.

In reply, Harefield made a real effort to chase down the runs.

The visitors put 74 runs on the board before the first wicket fell. But opener Jack Shiel and Jalpesh Vijay 42 took Harefield on to 154-3 before Banbury picked up three quick wickets for the loss of just eight runs to put the brakes on.

Shiel remained defiantly at the crease as he completed his century before running out of partners as Banbury mopped up the lower order. Shiel finally went in the 46th over, caught by Patterson off West, having made 106 runs, which included two sixes and 14 fours, as Banbury wrapped it up.

West finished with 7-53 and Ollie Wright took 2-34 as Banbury moved back up to second in the table ahead of next weekend’s trip to leaders Finchampstead.