Sawston & Babraham II, Foxton Granta and Histon sign off from 2024 Division One campaign with victories

An unbeaten century from Nick Griggs helped Sawston & Babraham (207) to end the Onyx League Division One season on a winning note with a 46-run victory over Burwell & Exning (161).

Struggling on 46-6, there was a period where it looked unlikely that the hosting Rams would make triple figures.

However, Griggs came in to take the game to the Burwell & Exning bowling attack, with his score of 101 runs coming from just 94 deliveries.

In terms of the bowling, Dylan Hardy (3-24) and Edward Manning (3-30) took three wickets apiece for the visitors, who used eight bowlers in total.

In reply, just three Burwell & Exning batsmen returned double-figure scores, with Ben Kelly (57) and Manish Burman (34) the leading run contributors.

Will Bailey (4-30) spearheaded Sawston & Babraham’s charge to victory during his eight overs with the ball in hand, with support being provided by all-rounder Griggs (3-16) and Jake Raven (3-29).

The victory has seen Sawston & Babraham finish eighth during what was their first campaign in Division One, while Burwell & Exning signed off in fourth position.

Elsewhere, Cambridge St Giles (178) were unable to make home advantage count during their Division One season-ending defeat by six wickets against Foxton Granta (179-4) on Saturday.

Not for the first time during the campaign, Sam Beer (4-30) was the pick of the Foxton Granta bowling attack.

Beer’s four-wicket haul took his tally for the season to 40, leaving him joint third in the division’s leading wicket-taking table.

And while he was dismissed for a seven-ball duck the next day in the Voneus National Village Cup final at Lord’s, batsman Johnny Atkinson (66 not out) guided Foxton Granta over the winning line alongside an unbeaten knock of 21 from captain Lewys Hill.

Foxton Granta signed off for the 2024 league campaign in third position, while St Giles finished in fifth spot.

Ed Hyde was the star turn with bat and ball for Histon (222-5) during their five-wicket victory at Eaton Socon (221).

Traditionally a wicket-keeper, Hyde took on the bowling duties on this occasion and he went on to return figures of 5-12 from his 5.2 overs.

The Histon reply got off to a solid start courtesy of openers Fergus Hughes (45) and Cameron Mitchell (41), who put on 76 runs for the first wicket.

And it was then over to Hyde as he scored an unbeaten 65 runs from 77 deliveries to get his team over the winning line two balls into the 49th over.

Histon’s win – their 12th of the season – saw them finish second in the Onyx League Division One.

Meanwhile, it was honours even on the final day of the Division One season between Old Leysians (310-7) and Saffron Walden II (310).

Batting first, the Old Leysians innings centred around the performance of Andrew Bramley, who smashed 104 runs from only 76 balls. Bramley’s innings featured 13 fours and four sixes.

However, it was not enough to win the contest as hosting Walden matched their visitors’ total.

The tied encounter saw Old Leysians finish the 2024 campaign in ninth position.