BICESTER & North Oxford players are celebrating after securing promotion from Cherwell League Division 3 – with three games to spare.

A rain-affected victory at Stokenchurch On Saturday – their 13th success in 15 matches – put them 78 clear of third-placed Oxford & Bletchingdon Nondescripts.

Just three points from their remaining games will clinch them the title.

Electing to bat in a return to 50-over win/lose cricket, Stokenchurch soon lost their key batsman Arshad Latif to the bowling of Dan Savin for nine.

Fellow opening bowler Ben Clark removed Ashley Hunt and Josh Triggs cheaply, and when Liam Randall had Jack Sears adjudged lbw, the hosts were in trouble at 91-4.

Paul Maddock and Chris Sears added 40 for the fifth wicket, but Savin bowled Maddock to break the partnership before Randall ended Sears’s resistance.

They were eventually all out for 169, Savin finishing with 3-19.

Knowing victory would seal their promotion, Adam Stapleford-Jones made a quickfire 26 at the start of Bicester’s reply, before Nick Moorman and Warwick Bradfield sought to blunt the Stokenchurch attack at the expense of quick runs.

Both fell within the space of a few balls as Bicester found themselves 51-4 from 20 overs.

But the foundations had been laid for Savin, who hit 40 not out from 56 balls and Will Irving (28no) to complete a DLS victory by reaching 144-5 from 38 overs before the rain came.

Nondies, meanwhile, lost by 20 runs at home to Banbury 3rd on DLS.

The hosts were all out for 222, Chris Day top-scoring with 47 as Imran Mohammed took 4-35.

Paul Taylor (50) helped Banbury to 170-5 – which was 20 runs ahead of par – when the heavens

opened.

Olly Tice smashed a century as Westbury closed in on the Division 2 title with a four-run DLS method victory at home to Leighton Buzzard Town.

Tice hit 102, Tom Gurney 75 and William Gurney 70 as Westbury rattled up 278-4.

Phil Whatmore hammered 136 not out in Buzzard’s reply, but when the rain came at 35 overs, Buzzard’s 218-7 was four runs behind par.

Bicester & North Oxford 2nd kept their faint hopes of promotion from Division 7 alive with a nail-biting three-wicket at home to Didcot 3rd.

Matt Clark’s 6-17 restricted Didcot to 103.

However, Bicester lost regular wickets in reply before crossing the line on 104-7 with 18 overs to spare.