Thomas Harris was the star as Abingdon Vale won the Under 13 League crown at Bicester & North Oxford, beating Westbury in the final.
But while Harris’s unbeaten 30 and 1-9 in the final was crucial, it was his sensational return of 6-5 in the semi-finals that was the highlight of the day.
In the final, Westbury were made to work hard for runs against an accurate Vale attack backed up by some good fielding.
An unbeaten 31 from Ben Gascoigne, with 30 not out from Ali Akam, saw them to 102-3 off their 20 overs.
In reply, Abingdon made a sound start. And after openers Harris and George Stone each made 30, Vale went on to reach their target for the loss of two wickets.
Earlier in the day, Harris’s fantastic figures of 6-5 saw Oxford dismissed for just 37 in their semi-final, Vale knocking off the runs for the loss of three wickets.
The other semi-final was a real thriller with Westbury recovering from the shock of losing four wickets in the first over to beat Buscot Park by one run.
Westbury posted 87-6, thanks to a fifth-wicket stand of 86 between Gascoigne and George Markham, before hanging on.
RESULTS Final Westbury 102-3 (B Gascoigne 31no, A Akam 30no); Abingdon Vale 102-2 (T Harris 30no, G Stone 30no).
Third place Oxford 127-8 (B Reid 30no, N Stevenson 22, A Edington 2-1); Buscot Park 82-9 (W James 30no, H Currie 2-11, K Hamid 2-25).
Semi-finals Oxford 37 (T Harris 6-5), Abingdon Vale 38-3 (K Hamid 2-4).
Westbury 87-6 (B Gascoigne 31no, G Markham 30no, W Parsons 4-17), Buscot Park 86-7 (J Kirby 30no, W James 19, O Tice 2-15, H Rymer 2-17).
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