U13s win a thriller with 9 players at Shipton!

After a great day yesterday for our senior cricketers it was down to the under 13s to try to complete a clean sweep of wins for the weekend and finish off a very good week for Kidlington Youth cricket.

Kidlington were put into bat by Shipton and got off to good start with 9 runs off the first over but they lost opener Kamran in the second over, out to a superb catch by the bowler. This did not deter the KCC batsmen as Saul Samuel (31n.o.) and Ben Hague (30n.o.) built an excellent platform for the innings with a partnership of 56 runs, Saul was retired first after hitting 6 fours, Ben hit 5 fours and paced his innings perfectly to ensure Kidlington posted a strong target. With Ben playing the anchor role, Thomas Owen (27n.o.) was able to play his shots and move the score on quickly.

So with 115 on the board KCC faced a challenge in the field with only 9 players, Shipton sportingly offered some of their players to help in the field but the KCC players politely declined the offer, they were determined to win this by themselves.

Kidlington bowlers kept a tight line to restrict the batsmen in the first 7 overs but as they played themselves in the Shipton batsmen slowly began to up the scoring rate and mount a brave challenge. G. Woods (33n.o.) & A. Knox (30n.o.) played very well to get their side close to the target but just when it seemed the game was slipping away from them, the KCC captain, Kamran, pulled his team together and hit back with some crucial wickets. Kamran clean bowled the new batsmen, then Jack claimed a wicket with a terrific catch by Thomas Owen in the deep. Nicholas Owen and Kamran bowled the last few overs with great control giving very little away and finally through a couple of run outs sealed the win for Kidlington in the last over.

It was a super game played in a competitive but friendly manner and full marks to Shipton for playing through the rain.
Well done to our under 13s for another good win!