Oxfordshire enjoyed a victorious start to their season following a 71-run win in their friendly clash with Buckinghamshire at Aston Rowant yesterday.

Luke Ryan’s side recovered from a poor start with the bat to record a convincing victory.

However, it was a spot of fortune that turned the tide in their favour.

The visitors were on 95-1 in reply to Oxfordshire’s 227-9, with opener Hamza Taj and No 3 Michael Payne sharing a 75-run partnership.

But when Payne drove back at debutant bowler Will Eason, the Horspath man got down the stop the ball, and deflected it onto the stumps to run out the unfortunate Taj.

It was arguably the game’s turning point, as Oxfordshire then took control and ripped through the Bucks lower order.

After losing the toss, Oxon were 0-1 when Richard Kaufman left the third ball of the innings from Simon Stanway and was bowled.

Michael Beard and Jamie Perkin soon followed as the hosts slipped to 26-3.

Lloyd Sabin and Richard West’s half-century partnership steadied the ship, but it was then left to the lower middle-order to set a challenging total.

Daniel Rowe (40no), Ryan (36) and Dan Smith (33) all played their part in Oxon’s fine recovery.

After a slow start with the ball, Taj’s run out sparked Oxon into life, with Kaufman (4-18) and Ryan (3-26) instigating a collapse that saw Bucks slump from 121-2 to 156 all out.