3s go down fighting at Charlbury

Kcc 3rd XI got off to a good start to the season at Charlbury on a chilly day. Kcc won the toss and elected to bat on a good pitch and made a solid start with Ran de Silva and Paul Hewitt putting on 39 for the first wicket. Ran was unlucky to get out c&b as the ball held up in the pitch. Mark Fransham was looking solid when harshly given run out and this brought Sam Kimber (12) to the crease. He played with maturity and great concentration to build an important partnership with the captain. After a patient innings Paul Hewitt (63) was out caught trying to up the scoring rate but this brought Gary Woods (37) in and he got things moving with an excellent innings of 37 almost all in boundaries. Regular wickets pegged KCC back and with not many runs added in the last few overs it meant KCC finished on 157/8 from 40 overs, a bit short but still in the game.
After a nice tea (as always), Charlbury set about chasing and were careful in their pursuit as Ran bowled with great accuracy. Ran de Silva struck twice in bowling two of the Charlbury top order in a great spell and ended up with figures of 2/8 off 9 overs, this kept KCC in the game with Charlbury just about keeping up with the run rate. However the experience of Alasdair Harley and Mark Flory saw Charlbury home as they worked the singles well and took the boundaries on offer. KCC bowled well but just didn't have enough runs to defend, Sam Fransham gave a superb performance in his first senior match and was unlucky not to be rewarded with a wicket. Sam Kimber showed what a talented all-rounder he is with a tidy spell and a wicket. Mark Fransham did a solid job behind the stumps and generally the fielding was pretty decent so a good start to what should be a successful season for the 3rd XI.