FINCHAMPSTEAD CC produced a magnificent performance to thump perennial Home Counties Premier League Division One title challengers Henley by 141 runs, writes Oscar Beardmore-Gray.

Openers Adam Dewes and Matt Jones gave the away side a promising start in overcast conditions after Henley had put Finchampstead in to bat, but, after Tahir Afridi removed both openers, Finch were forced to rebuild through Dan Lincoln and Billy Rogers.

That duo took the score past 100, and further contributions coming from Dan Marles (31) and Andy Rishton (38), took their side to 175 before the former was dismissed by Monty Singh.

However, some powerful late hitting from wicket-keeper Sukhi Kang (35no) and Matt Carter saw Finchampstead reach 253-6 from 64 overs.

With 56 overs to surpass Finchampstead’s total, Henley reached 34 before Matt Rowe was removed by the impressive Jandre Coetzee. Finchampstead then began to assert their dominance, reducing Henley to 44-5, which included three middle order ducks.

A brief recovery after tea lead by captain Michael Roberts and former skipper Bjorn Mordt took Henley past 100, but it was not long before Finchampstead completed victory, bowling Henley out for 112.

Coetzee (pictured above) continued his brilliant run of form, finishing with 5 for 25 off 17 overs, which now means he has 16 wickets for just 66 runs from three matches.

Finchampstead host lowly Reading this Saturday (11am).

Finchampstead 4ths hammered North Maidenhead 3rds by 10 wickets in a one-sided Thames Valley League Division 7a clash. Spinner Ben Cole took 6-34 as Maidenhead only managed 135.

Finch openers Chris Ward (73no) and Matt Eldridge (57no) had few problems in knocking the runs off in 27 overs.

In Division 9a, Finchampstead 5ths completed a great weekend for the club by beating Cove 5ths by 44 runs.

Despite only setting Cove 143 to win, Finch bowled their opponents out for 102 with Ahmet Tuney (4-34) and Ed Hartless (4-25) both taking four wickets.