SLOUGH have secured their position in Home Counties Division One for the 2018 season after a five-wicket win against Finchampstead on Saturday.

Captain Bobby Sher and his team were threatened with relegation three weeks ago, but three wins on the bounce have seen them move up to sixth position in the league table with one match still to play.

A relieved Sher told the Observer: “We had to win three out of the last four matches so there was a lot of pressure on, so credit to the boys.

“I’ve said all season that the boys are only 10-15 per-cent off and when they needed that bit extra they really came good for themselves and the team.

“It was a good win on Saturday and I’m happy with the way we played, and relieved also that the relegation fear is over.”

Commenting on the win over the defending champions, the Slough skipper said: “We won the toss and decided before the game it would be best to keep them to under 200 then chase it down.

“We bowled well in patches. We could have bowled a bit better up front but Ikhlaq Nawaz (1-20) was superb again to take a wicket with the first ball of the match.

“William Rogers (61) batted really well and took the game to us, but once we got him out wickets fell at regular intervals. We bowled tight and it was a good performance all round.

“The wicketkeeper (Shazad Rana) took two good catches and a stumping, and the fielding was good as no chances went away.”

Sher continued: “We definitely fancied our chances but didn’t get off to the best of starts with the bat, but then we started to settle and chased it down quite comfortably. We could have won only four wickets down.”

Slough conclude their season at champions Henley on Saturday.

Sher said: "We will go out and enjoy ourselves on Saturday. The second team are looking for promotion so there will be a bit of help there and we've got a couple not available so there will be four or five changes."

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