DORSET were left facing an uphill battle to avoid defeat after the pendulum swung in Oxfordshire’s favour on the second day of their Unicorns Championship clash.

Former Hampshire, Somerset and Worcestershire all-rounder Gareth Andrew was again Dorset’s chief tormentor as the hosts gained the upper hand at Banbury.

Andrew mopped up the Dorset first innings to finish with figures of eight for 40 before adding to his heroics with the ball by compiling a crucial 72 in Oxfordshire’s second innings.

Trailing by 52 runs after the first innings, Dorset were set 279 for victory after Andrew’s exploits had helped Oxfordshire post 226.

And by the close, Dorset had lost openers Tom Arnold and Ben Wells with just five on the scoreboard.

Resuming on 80 for seven, Dorset were eventually rolled over for 119.

Andrew bowled Chris Park and had Alex Eckland (23) caught behind by Callum Russell for the addition of just six runs to Dorset’s overnight total.

He then trapped in front Jigar Naik (20) – but not before the former Leicestershire man and James Hayman had put on 33 for the last wicket.

Oxfordshire made a reasonable start to their second innings with opener Harry Smith (35) thwarting Dorset in the early stages.

However, after Josh McCoy (1-17) and Naik had removed both openers, they slumped from a promising 67 for two to 113 for seven.

But an eighth-wicket stand of 97 between Andrew (72) and Joe Thomas (31) turned the tide despite the best efforts of Naik (3-53) and Josh Digby (3-68).