1st XI Battle Hard For Big Win!

KCC batted first on what was a damp wicket but a small fast outfield and things didn't start as planned when Andy Oliver smashed a drive straight to mid off who took a good catch in the 1st over. Chris East joined Jimmy Ewers in the middle and both had to bat through some good bowling a difficult wicket to play shots as the ball stuck in the wicket. Finally after KCC had struggled their way to 20 from the first 10 overs, Ewers and East opened up and added a quick 30 runs before Ewers was caught in the 14th over after a mistimed drive caught at extra cover. Richard Walker had promoted himself to 4 after a couple of good knocks recently and played an important innings along with East as they moved the score towards 100. Both played sensible cricket playing every ball on its merit but not being afraid to dispatch any bad bowling to the short boundaries! East moved on to 30 after a huge 6 through square leg, but was back in the pavilion after missing a straight one trying to work it around the corner. Edd Willmot joined the captain but looked rusty and was bowled off of his pads for only 7. Kidlington needed another partnership and one came with Walker and Craig Woods who played solid defence but struggled to score freely, leaving Walker to do the majority of the hitting including a big 6 through his favoured long on region. With the score on 120 and only 10 overs to go, KCC needed to up the scoring but when Walker and Woods went in quick succession, Walker being bowled and Woods caught at short fine leg, an injured Tom Bozman came in at 8 but was out first ball being bowled. A lot now hinged on Waseem Azad (pictured) and Dan Farrant who both were capable of taking the game away from Swinbrook. And take the game away from them is exactly what they did! Azad and Farrant punished any loose bowling! They added a crucial partnership of 50 for the 8th wicket and moved the score onto 190 before Farrant was caught at mid off after mistiming another big shot! Steve Litten added 1 before playing on to his stumps and Chris Graham put on another 5 runs before being caught at gully and leaving KCC on 198 all out and Azad 33 not out!

Dan Farrant and Steve Litten opened for KCC and both bowled fairly well but anything slightly over pitched was punished by the Swinbrook batsmen, so Rich Walker decided that slow bowling was the way forward! Tom Bozman replaced Farrant up the hill, whilst Edd Willmot came on for Litten down the slope. Both started well but the Swinbrook openers looked comfortable and continued to find the boundary pretty regularly and with the score now 70/0 from 15 overs Swinbrook were cruising. Willmot was bowling well and with the ball turning, he made the breakthrough bowling the batsman through the gate and hitting middle stump! This brought Swinbrooks best batsman to the crease and he struck Bozman for a 4 on only the second ball he faced. Bozman was now replaced by Chris East who took the big wicket with his 1st ball, one which he would admit wasn't his best but every wicket counts! East bowled a loose full toss but the batsman mistimed his straight drive and was caught in the deep by Andy Oliver. Willmot then removed the other opener with after a ball the stuck in the wicket and Farrant took the catch at short fine leg. Swinbrook were now on 90/3 from 20 overs with two new but very experienced players in the middle. Willmot and East built up some pressure but there was always a loose ball that allowed the batsmen to relieve that pressure! Kidlington thought they had finally made the breakthrough they needed when Azad through the ball in from the deep and looked to have run out one of the batsmen but East was adjudged to have disturbed the bails before being in control on the ball! East was replaced by Azad with and Farrant came on for Willmot who had bowled out. A near exact replica of the previous run out chance happened again with the same batsman, as this time Walker through the ball in but this time it was Azad who took the bails off without possession of the ball! After 2 overs, Kidlington were then dealt a slice of luck, as the set batsman and one who looked like he could win Swinbrook the game, was forced to retire hurt after stretching for an Azad delivery and damaging his elbow. Azad was brought off for Litten as he and Farrant took the game away from Swinbrook in the final 10 overs of the game with some tight wicket to wicket bowling! With Swinbrook needing a run a ball, Litten struck twice in quick succession with identical deliveries, hitting middle stump on both occasions. With Swinbrook now needing 7 an over and with only 4 wickets left Walker and Farrant combined twice to first remove the set batsman, Walker fielded well in close and threw the ball in to Farrant who removed the bails, then Farrant took his only wicket of the game when Walker took a good catch at mid off! Litten took his third wicket after a smart catch in the deep from Tom Bozman! After Farrant and Litten bowled the remaining 4 overs tight without any further wickets, Swinbrook evetually fell 18 runs short of Kidlingtons score!

A much needed victory for KCC after a couple of bad results in recent weeks and a well deserved win after it looked as if Swinrbrook were heading towards the points!