TOM Coleman and Tom Cosford hit maiden Home Counties Premier League centuries as third-placed Horspath took the lion's share of the points at leaders Henley, who held out for a draw in an absorbing Division 1 encounter. Horspath were in trouble at 35-3 after being put in to bat on a green pitch with Henley paceman Tom Nugent removing Jehan Mohammed, James Fitzjohn and Mark Jefferson in an impressive opening spell. Mohammed was caught at third slip by David Barnes with the score on 19, and Nugent struck again six runs later when Fitzjohn gloved a delivery which jumped off a length to wicket-keeper Stewart Davison. Jefferson then fell to the same combination as he mistimed a drive. But Coleman and Cosford steadied the ship, taking Horspath to lunch at 82-3, before going on to share a club league record stand of 186 for the fourth wicket. Coleman worked the ball well into the gaps and was strong through cover and square leg, while Cosford destroyed Henley's spinners with some powerful straight hitting. He had made a superb 109 off 138 deliveries with four sixes and 13 fours when he was caught by Waqas Hussain at deep square leg off left-arm seamer Tahir Afridi. Coleman proceeded to carry his bat, finishing unbeaten on 117 from 164 balls, with 16 fours, as Horspath closed on 268-4 from their 64 overs. Former England Test paceman Ajmal Shahzad was 18 not out, while Nugent (3-72) was the pick of the Henley attack. Shahzad then made the breakthrough in Henley's innings, having prolific run scorer Michael Roberts caught low down by a diving Fitzjohn at mid-on, making it 23-1. But Matt Rowe and Hussain then proceeded to move the score along nicely. They had reached 142-1 in the 31st over when Rowe suffered a broken right hand after being struck by a delivery from Shahzad and retired hurt on 48. Six runs later, Hussain was caught at deep square leg by Coleman hooking another short-pitched delivery from the Sussex star for 85 off 86 balls, with two sixes and 14 fours. Jamil Faruq then got in on the act with Cosford running round at mid-on to take a good catch to dismiss Richard Morris and leave Henley 158-3. Euan Woods and David Barnes put on 44 for the fourth wicket, before the reintroduction of spin did the trick with the latter falling for 19 to a low catch by skipper Will Eason at mid-wicket off Cosford. It was the first in a series of wonderous catches as Horspath, for whom Alex Thomas did a solid job on his debut behind the stumps, put the brakes on Henley. Five runs later, Fitzjohn made good ground at mid-off when Davison miscued a drive off Lloyd Belcher's left-arm spin to snap up the chance and make it 207-5. Needing 59 for victory off the last ten overs, Henley pressed on only to be pegged back again when Jehan Mohammed sprinted in 30 yards from the mid-wicket boundary to claim a brilliant catch on the run after Ziahat Ashraf skied a shot off Cosford. That was special, but even better was to come when Jefferson dived full length to clasp a truly stunning catch with his right hand after Euan Brock smashed a Belcher delivery to extra cover. With Henley 228-7 - and effectively eight wickets down with Rowe having gone to hospital and not expected to return to the crease - Horspath were suddenly sensing victory. Their hopes increased when Afridi hit a delivery from Belcher to extra cover and set off for a single, but Cosford's throw to the bowler was spot-on and the Henley man was run out, making it 242-8. That left Euan Woods and Nugent to survive the final three overs, which they duly did to close on 243-8. Cosford (2-45), Belcher (2-46) and Shahzad (2-79) spearheaded the visitors' attack. Horspath picked up 15 points to Henley's seven, and now trail the leaders by just five points.
Posted by: Russ
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