Wolvercote set records to become the first side to win the U13 Hundred competition twice in the same season.
The first semi-final of the day saw Langford beat Cumnor by 2 runs. Batting first, Langford fell to 23-3 before France’s 25 and Harris’ 21 saw them recover to 82-5 from their 100 balls. The pick of the Cumnor bowlers was Tappin who returned figures of 2-14 from his 20 balls. In reply, Cumnor started strongly with openers Spicer and Healy scoring 27 and 22 respectively. However, a collapse that saw them lose 6 wickets for just 20 runs left them 2 runs short of their total, seeing Langford into the final. Langford did well to restrict their opponents, with Harris being the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 3-18 from his 20 balls.
Semi-final 2 was between Peppard and Wolvercote, with the former batting first. Losing early wickets, Peppard slipped to 13-3 before strong performances from A Kind (48) and Baker (41) saw them recover to a defendable 134-7 from their 100 balls. Wolvercote shared around the wickets, with Rowan-Hull, Bratby and H Bewes taking 2 apiece. Needing 135 to progress to the final, Wolvercote got their chase underway well, with Du Plessis striking 53 from just 41 balls – joined by Lovell’s 30 which put their team in good stead to progress. However, both fell and Peppard looked to be back in the game, with the two in-form batters out and the hundredth ball rapidly approaching. Captain Bratby’s innings of 14 from 8 was just about enough to see his side over the line and progress to the final. Plaudits must go to Sedgwick whose valiant effort to give his side a chance to win the trophy finished with figures of 2-16 from his 20 balls, including 13 dots.
After a short break, the final got underway, with Wolvercote batting first. A first-wicket stand of 59 gave the holders a rocketing start, with Du Plessis continuing his fine form from the previous game. This time Bratby joined in the runs with his 46 from 27 balls seeing his side to 137-6 from their 100 balls, leaving Langford 138 to win the trophy. Passey stood out from the Langford attack, returning figures of 3-24 from his 20 balls. Needing a good start, Langford had anything but, losing captain France for 0 and putting Wolvercote firmly in charge. However, Hewlett (27) and Greenslade (33) piled on the runs, giving their side a fighting chance to get to their total. H Bewes had other ideas, though, and after removing both in a devastating spell of 2-9 from 20 balls all but sealed the game for Wolvercote. Langford fell 32 runs short of their target, meaning Wolvercote collected the trophy for the second time this season.
The presentation of the trophy and medals was conducted by Joe Clapton (Finals Day Manager for the day) who thanked Charlbury for hosting, the umpires, coaches, scorers and all the teams for a great day of cricket. Thank you to all clubs who competed in this year’s Competition, and we look forward to seeing more great cricket over the summer.
Congratulations again to Wolvercote for winning the competition twice this season.