MAX Smith’s superb five-wicket haul helped Oxfordshire convincingly beat Cornwall and lift the Royal London ECB Under 17 Cup for the second time in three years.
Oxon produced an outstanding all-round display to win by eight wickets at Kibworth, with Smith returning figures of 5-15 from seven overs.
On a damp morning, Cornwall chose to bat first.
And they were quickly in trouble as opener Lewis Goldsworthy was trapped lbw by Asad Rafiq in the first over.
Ross Leathley and Sam Wyatt quickly followed as Cornwall were reduced to a precarious 5-3.
Tommy Sturgess counter-attacked in a quickfire 26, while Cornwall skipper James Goldsworthy scored 17 as the pair shared 48 for the fourth wicket.
But when they both fell in quick succession to Smith, the Cornish innings subsided quickly to 77 all out.
Smith bowled superbly, backed up by an economical spell of 1-7 from eight overs from left-arm spinner Olly Clarke.
With the pitch drying out and appearing easier to bat on, Oxon wasted little time in reaching the target.
Despite losing skipper George Reid and Clarke, both for 13, they eased home as Ben Charlesworth struck a classy 48 not out, which included nine boundaries.
Charlesworth knocked off the winning run in the 21st over to spark the celebrations as Oxon repeated their 2014 triumph.
OXFORDSHIRE 2nd were on the losing end of an exciting 13-run defeat by Berkshire Academy at Abingdon Vale.
Berkshire, electing to bat first, posted 213 all out from 49.5 overs with Joe Thomas (3-51) and Olly Clarke (3-43) the pick of the bowlers.
Several of Oxon’s top-order batsmen got starts without converting to big scores, but Owyn Tong-Jones (38), Clarke (36) and Will Hawtin (36) kept the home side in the game.
They were eventually bow-led out for 200 in the last over.
l FORMER England Test stars Mark Ramprakash, Devon Malcolm and Owais Shah will be playing Kidlington CC’s Chairman’s Day at Stratfield Brake on Sunday, September 4
They will be playing for John Moss’s Chairman’s XI in a T20 match against an Invitational XI, starting at 12.
The side also includes West Indians Kirk Edwards and Hartley Alleyne.
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