High Wycombe’s hopes of winning the ECB National Club Championship were abruptly ended on Sunday as they were comprehensively beaten by Swardeston.

They came into the match chasing a treble but failed to get to grips with a dominant Swardeston side.

The visitors opted to bat first and despite the cheap dismissals of Peter Lambert (two) and Stephen Gray (zero) made the most of the decision.

Joe Gatting (31) and Jordan Taylor (29) righted the Swardeston ship quickly to guide them to 97-4.

The real damage was done by Lewis Denmark though as he scored a measured 72 from 79 deliveries to take his side’s score beyond 150.

He formed an important partnership in the middle of the Norfolk side’s innings with Freddie Ruffell who made 37 at more than a run a ball.

Wycombe would still have fancied their chances of restricting their opponents to an attainable score, but saw the game slip further away from them when Matthew Taylor came to the crease.

The number eight scored 44 from 38 balls to help push his side to 246-8 from their 45 overs.

Of the four Wycombe bowlers to claim wickets Cameron Parsons (3-53) was the most prolific. Uzair Amjaid (2-34), James Benning (1-40) and Adam Dobb (1-42) also contributed.

The start to Wycombe’s response did not bode well for the remainder of their innings, as Gavin Baker was dismissed for a duck to leave them on 1-1.

Garth Davson (28) and Xavier Owen (27) did their best to salvage the situation, but cheap dismissals elsewhere left their side starring defeat in the face on 100-7.

They could not recover and an innings which featured seven scores of less than 10 came to a close with Wycombe on 117.

George Walker took 3-9 from a superb two over spell, while Mark Thomas was also impressive with 3-20 for Swardeston.

The defeat came 24 hours after Wycombe had claimed a potentially vital win in the Home Counties Premier League Division One.

The match against third place Banbury was billed as a must win if Wycombe were to maintain hopes of retaining their title and they did so by a narrow 18-run margin.

A patient 65 from 123 balls from Davson and 31 from George Russell accounted for a large chunk of their 167 all out in the opening innings.

They were hugely indebted to Benning’s superb 6-52 as he bowled an impressive 20 over spell as Wycombe managed to defend their low score.

In truth Banbury’s chase had lacked punch from the outset and other than Lloyd Sabin’s 51 their batsmen flattered to deceive on their way to 149 all out.

The result takes Wycombe above Banbury in the league and they are currently 26 points behind leaders Finchampstead with five games to play.