HARRY Smith scored a superb century to help Oxfordshire Under 17s to a 39-run victory over Berkshire in the ECB County Cup at Marston.

Winning the toss, Oxfordshire had no hesitation in choosing to bat first on a great batting track.

But they were quickly 0-1 when Nigel Hume fell fifth ball for a duck to an excellent delivery from Ryan Gilmour.

However, that was the only early breakthrough as Smith and Lloyd Sabin shared a stand of 91 for the second wicket.

Sabin was out lbw for 27, but that only brought Michael Beard to the crease.

And along with Smith, the pair shared a superb third-wicket stand of 127 to set Oxon up for a big score.

They used their batting power play to great effect, plundering 69 runs from a five over burst before Smith finally fell for 111 – his innings including 12 fours and two sixes.

Beard soon followed for 68 off just 58 balls.

Useful contributions from Sam Ryan and Richard Cook saw Oxon to a formidable total of 307 all out.

The visitors' reply got off to a flying start as they raced to 33 without loss after six overs.

The openers Stuart Parsons and Curran Gaur shared a partnership of 89, before the introduction of Jack Stimpson broke the stand.

After that, wickets fell at regular intervals with spinner Richard Simpson taking three wickets, and Berkshire, who needed to score at more than seven runs an over by this stage, were up against it.

A fine innings of 43 from Kuran Kumar and a quick-fire 35 down the order from Hugo Derby got Berkshire back in with a shout, only for Stimpson to return for a second spell to finish with 4-29.