Cumnor missed out on a place in the quarter-finals of the npower Village Cup after falling to a 26-run defeat at home to Marshfield yesterday.

Chasing a victory target of 176, Cumnor looked in good shape midway through their innings, but a rash of quick dismissals ended their dreams of Lord's.

Having asked their visitors to bat first, some tidy bowling meant Marshfield limped to just 46-1 off their opening 20 overs.

Things looked even better when the visitors fell to 65-3 and then 90-4.

But a fifth-wicket partnership of 58 between brothers Bobby and David Jenkins proved crucial.

The duo rode their luck with several aerial shots finding gaps, but their contribution left Cumnor facing an uphill task despite the efforts of Ali Morteza, who took a superb 5-36.

However, the Oxfordshire champions started well.

Although Dan Gaunt was out with the score on 25, Graham Scott and James Nielsen shared a half-century partnership for the second wicket.

Cumnor looked well-set at 61-1 after 20 overs, but once these two batsmen fell, they struggled.

They lost their next seven wickets for 34 runs as some frantic running between the wickets and risky shots failed to come off.

Although some late stokeplay from Chris Mitty gave them a glimmer of hope, they fell short.