Oxford saw off stiff competition from finals day finalists Witney Mills, Banbury and Cumnor to lift the U11 Hundred trophy on Sunday.
The first semi final saw Cumnor beat Witney Mills by 6 wickets to book their place in the final. Mills struggled for runs throughout their innings, managing just 72 from their 100 balls with some restrictive bowling from Cumnor keeping the score low. The pick of the Cumnor bowlers was Wood who took 2-10 from his allocated 20 balls. In response openers Amy and Harper ticked off the lions share of the runs before both being run out, leaving Gardner-Morrsion to finish the job and give his side the chance to lift the trophy in the final.
Semi final 2 was between Oxford and Banbury, with Banbury batting first in a low scoring affair – reaching just 82 from their 100 balls. The Oxford bowlers did well to restrict the scoring, with Seekings and Pillai returning figures of 1-10 off 15 balls and 0-7 off 15 balls respectively. In reply, Oxford knocked off the runs with balls and wickets to spare, with Shah scoring 25 and Smith striking 31 to see their side into the final.
In the third place playoff, Banbury batted first and runs from Acton, Brock and some huge sixes from Cronin helped them post 111. In reply, Green counter-attacked, with Chandrawale playing the anchor role, before a volley of boundaries from Lewis put Witney Mills in command.
In the final, Healey and Amy got Cumnor off to a flying start, only for some excellent death bowling to restrict the Bears to 93. Dawnay and Shah then put Oxford in pole position to complete their run chase with time to spare, before captain Smith and Nirmal finished the job to secure their team the trophy.
The presentation of the trophy and medals was conducted by Neil Pickup (Finals Day Manager for the day) who thanked Didcot for hosting, the umpires, coaches, scorers and all the teams for a great day of cricket.
Congratulations again to Oxford for winning this competition. We look forward to next season to see who will lift the trophy in 2024.