BURNHAM CC skipper Shaid Nadeem hailed his side’s performance after they secured their Home Counties Division One status on Saturday.

The Buckinghamshire club have been locked in a season-long battle against relegation, but confirmed safety with a five-wicket win against Banbury on Saturday.

Nadeem, who missed the Memorial Ground win through injury, says he is relieved to see Burnham avoid the drop just weeks before handing the captaincy over to Harveer Gandam.

After electing to bat first, Banbury got off to a strong start at 108-1, Jonathan Cater making an early half century (55).

But soon-to-be skipper Gandam (2-33) and overseas star Aftab Khan (2-15) led the Burham comeback, eventually reducing the visitors to 162-9.

Raja Rehman got the hosts’ reply off to a quick start, smashing 57 off just 43 balls, and man of the match Gandam secured a priceless win with an unbeaten 40.

“Banbury are a good side and always there or there abouts,” Nadeem told the Observer. “It was very challenging and made worse by the fact we lost the toss, but in hindsight it was a good one to lose.

“Harveer was a bit shy to bowl because he was captain but he did really well.

“And Mohammad Fazal bowled brilliantly after eight weeks out with a few niggling injuries, but unfortunately pulled his hamstring.

“It was a great performance to restrict Banbury to 162. At one stage it looked like they were going to get away but we managed to turn it around.” Nadeem continued: “I hoped Banbury didn’t have too many runs because the wicket was starting to turn.

“But Raja got us off to a quick start and that enabled the other batsman to relax.

“Harveer’s 40 was the match-winning innings, he used his feet well to get down the track against the spin.

“We’ve secured our status now which is good because the last two weeks have been really stressful for me.” Burnham will celebrate Nadeem’s reign as captain in their final match of the season at champions Henley this Saturday (11am start).

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