197 Opening Stand Sets Up Victory!!!

On a sunny day, captain Richard Walker didn't hesitate to bat first on a hard but slightly green wicket after winning the toss . The returning Hari Lehal opened with Andy Oliver and the pair immediately asserted their authority over the Deddington bowling striking early boundaries with the ball racing to the fence on the quick outfield! Oliver was the main aggressor as he was quick to pounce on anything short as he found the middle of the bat easily and raced to 50! Lehal was looking solid as the pair rotated the strike well with runs coming comfortably on what turned out to be a good batting track! The score passed 100 in the 18th over and the runs continued to come freely with Lehal striking some beautifully timed drives through his favoured cover region whilst Oliver smashed anything over pitched straight and hit anything short through midwicket! Lehal brought up his 50 as the score passed 150. Both batsmen looked nailed on for centuries with little trouble coming from the Deddington bowling. It wasn't long before Oliver brought up his second century of the season, his previous also coming against Deddington earlier in the season! He smashed the ball through cover to bring up his ton before being stumped in the next over trying to add to KCCs already commanding score. The wicket fell on 197 which was a superb effort from both openers as they put Kidlington in a brilliant position to go on and post a score that was beyond Deddington CC. Edd Willmot joined Lehal but when Lehal lost his wicket also selflessly trying to hit a big shot when he could have waited for his century Kidlington had two new batsmen in the middle as Waseem Azad joined Willmot with the score on 200/2 in the 32nd over. Willmot struggled as he tried to play his shots early, however this was tailor made for Azad, who struck early boundaries, including the games first six over mid on! Willmot was the next wicket to fall as he was stumped charging down the wicket. Craig Woods joined Azad and the pair added 42 quick runs with both striking boundaries regularly. Woods used the pace of the ball and hit the gaps in the field, whilst Azad bullied the Deddingtoj bowling powering the ball through the leg side! Azad fell just short of his half century too a brilliant catch in the deep with the score already past 260 in the 38th over. However a slight blip in the KCC scorecard ensued with Richard Walker out for a golden duck caught from a leading edge and Muhammed Usman out the very next ball caught on the boundary! Johnny Boyes went in on hatrick ball but looked solid as he fed Woods the strike. Woods was the next wicket to fall caught before Steve Litten came to the crease and smashed 14 runs from 6 balls including three big shots that raced to the fence! Litten was caught on the boundary in the 44th over with the score on 300. Dan Farrant came to the middle for the last over and hit 14 from it including a 6 from his first ball as KCC finished on a formidable 314/8 in their 45 overs!

After tea, Kidlington set about defending their total. Dan Farrant and Steve Litten opened the bowling as bowled well although on a decent track, anything slightly short was sent to the boundary. Litten made the early breakthrough for KCC, bowling the Deddington opener with one that nipped back and smashed into middle stump! Farrant was replaced after a short 7 over spell in which he was inconsistent with his length by Sam Britton, but it was Litten who again done the damage for KCC finding the edge of the new batsman as Edd Willmot took a superb flying catch at first slip! Britton got in on the act with a beauty, as he nipped one back that hit the top of offstump leaving Deddington on 70/3 in the 22nd over. Edd Willmot replaced Litten after a good 10 over spell and bowled well although occasionally struggled with his length. However Willmot took the fourth wicket for KCC as he tempted the batsman into a big shot, only for the ball to be edged to Waseem Azad who took a sharp catch at gully! Sam Britton took his second wicket and Kidlingtons 5th as he bowled a brilliant yorker with the game well beyond Deddington as they were now on 110/5 in the 30th over! Muhammad Usman replaced Britton as he and Willmot tried to race through the overs to get KCC to victory that was now a formality. The Deddington opener was still in and looking to score himself a century. Litten replaced Willmot but struggled in his 2nd spell with the game already won, Farrant then replaced Litten and suffered the same effects with both bowling some good balls but leaking easy runs with all the field in looking for wickets. Sam Britton replaced Usman to bowl the last two overs and with the Deddington batsman needing 9 from the last over to score his century, Britton was intent on stopping him! When he struck a 4 off of the second ball, he needed only 2 to get him past his ton. With two balls left, he struck one to Muhammed Usman in the covers, with the ball fumbled, the batsman came back for a second, however a bullet arm from Usman left Walker the simple task of whipping off the bails leaving the Deddington player two short of his century and Deddington well short of their target as KCC secured victory by 122 runs and remain top of Division 4!