High Wycombe’s hopes of retaining their Home Counties Premier League Division One title were extinguished after suffering a seven-wicket defeat to Henley on Saturday.

The result leaves them 56 points behind league leaders Finchampstead with just one game to play and they will have to fight for a position in the top four.

Having won the toss, Wycombe elected to bat and, despite not having a standout performer, made a defendable 196-8 from their 50 overs.

The total looked a long way off when Tahir Afridi (2-31) bowled Gavin Baker for six to leave the hosts on 9-1.

Wycombe’s pedigree in the division has not been fostered by a lack of grit though, and Garth Davson and Xavier Owen both made 27 to steady their cause.

The pair would fall to the bowling of Cameron Jacobson and the Henley man was in devastating from on his way to a season best haul of 5-25.

George Russell provided the most resilience to the Henley attack but Jacobson also did for him as he was caught for 46.

Alistair Haynes (30) and Alan Duncan (21) were the only other batsmen to make a serious impression on the scoreboard as Gurveer Singh (1-26) claimed the other wicket.

Wycombe came into the match with faint hopes of being crowned champions, but could do little to counter a ruthless Henley batting display.

Openers Matthew Rowe and Jack Davies were particularly impressive and put on 145 for the first wicket to take the game away from their opponents.

The duo batted patiently with Rowe taking 114 balls to make 68 and Davies reaching the same score in nine less deliveries.

Michael Roberts continued the momentum they had built with an unbeaten 31 as he and Ziafat Ashraf (10 not out) completed the run chase.

A relatively slow run rate kept Wycombe in contention for a win until late in the day but Henley ultimately got over the line with an over to spare.

On a frustrating day in the field for Wycombe, Conner Haddow still managed to take a starring role by taking all three of the Henley wickets.

His 3-41 came at an average of 13.67 as he bowled all 10 of his available overs.

While the season has not yielded the success those associated with Wycombe hoped it might, they will still look to finish the campaign on a positive note.

They face a trip to second bottom Reading on Saturday knowing victory will guarantee a top four finish.

Doing so may be a tougher task than league position would suggest, however, after Reading held Wycombe to a draw in early July.