Kidlington under 13s bring home the Cup!

For the first time since 2006 Kidlington under 13s won the Gauntlett Goblet trophy for Oxfordshire 8 a side cricket.
This was a great achievement for a talented team who have worked so hard over the last couple of seasons to get this reward.
Having won every game in our league we went into the Finals Day at Abingdon Vale in confident mood but still wary of the opposition, all four semi-finalists were strong teams and we needed to be at our best to win.

KCC played Challow & Childrey in the semi and batted first after losing the toss. A steady innings by KCC batsmen gave us a decent total of 278 but with a short boundary and fast outfield it was by no means a safe total. The bowling had to be good to defend the score and make the final. Saul top scored with the bat with an unbeaten 14 and Kamran hit 20 including a six off his first ball but got out to a great catch.
In the field KCC were on top from the start with Saul (2/18) taking a wicket in his first over and Jack Launchbury (3/19) taking two wickets with his first two balls to ease the KCC nerves. Ben Hague kept wicket perfectly and Alex, Oscar, Joshua, Lauren and Kamran all bowled well to restrict the Challow batsmen to very few boundaries and keys wickets by Lauren and Kamran sealed the match for Kidlington.

So on to the final, another meeting with Shipton who gave us a close game last week but this time they had their county players in the side. This was always going to be a tough match with so much at stake and once again KCC lost the toss and had to bat first. The Kidlington batsmen got off to a flyer, they knew they had to post a big total to win as Shipton are a strong batting side. Ben and Joshua put on 28 runs in the first 4 overs, losing only one wicket with Joshua scoring 2 x 4s, showing great strength for an under 11. Lauren and Oscar then came in and smashed 45 off 4 overs with only one wicket going down, Lauren was in great form with 4x4s and Oscar supporting well with great running. Then we were treated to the innings of the day, Kamran Ramzan, KCC captain, came in and dismantled the Shipton bowling, he punished everything that was too short or wide in a superb innings of 41not out which included 8x4s. Alex didn't get much of the strike but played his part in the partnership and hit a lovely 4. This gave Jack and Saul a nice platform to come in and finish off the innings, they added 32 runs for only one wicket taking the score to 330, a big total for any side to chase.
We knew Shipton batted well from last week but they would have to go some to get this score. Shipton set off in pursuit in a positive manner and with 38 off the first 4 overs it was starting to get a bit uncomfortable for KCC but a wicket each for Lauren and Joshua pulled the game back towards us, great bowling under pressure! However, the next Shipton pair added 40 runs without loss, this really was game on! The next pair again added 40 runs but once again KCC bowlers struck just when they needed to, this time it was Oscar who got the vital breakthrough by bowling the main run scorer and then a great piece of fielding ran out the other batsmen so it was back in KCC's favour. The last Shipton pair made a great effort to chase down 48 from the last 4 overs but KCC held their nerve. Excellent fielding and a faultless performance by Ben Hague behind the stumps and wickets from Saul and Kamran along with a couple of run outs made sure Kidlington eased home comfortably to win a great match and capture the cup. A fantastic day with Kamran Ramzan being named as man of the match and receiving the cup for KCC. Thanks to all the players and parents for making this possible and to the organizers for a memorable day.