After losing the toss and being invited to field first, Charlbury got off to a solid start in the powerplay - reaching 22-0 from the first 14 balls. However, the dangerous Lottie Oxton was removed following a direct hit from Emilia Bartram at short fine leg for 14 (8 balls). Charlbury captain Abi Flory was joined in the middle by Katie Waugh, with the latter dragging on off Laura Jacob for 7 (8 balls). Jacob struck again next ball to remove Georgia Ainley, leaving Charlbury 41-3.

A solid rebuilding effort followed by Flory and new batter Megan Lovick, who shared a 35-run partnership from the next 36 balls with some strong running between the wickets, as Oxford looked to restrict the run rate with the spin of Sophie Grayson and Ridhi Kashyap. Lovick was bowled by Kashyap for 15 (20 balls), leaving Charlbury 76-3 with 33 balls left in the innings.

As Charlbury looked to accelerate towards the back end of the innings, new batter Carys Owen was run out by some sharp fielding by Sophie Mitchelmore at extra cover for 1 (1 ball), before Jessica Warren was dismissed by a stunning one-handed catch at backward point by Oxford captain Genny Porter off the bowling of Grayson for 1 (2 balls). This left Charlbury wobbling at 78-6 with 29 balls left in the innings. Natalia Plater was run out by Holly Chambers at deep cover while selflessly trying to give strike to Flory for 2 (3 balls) before Flory was finally removed for a well-made 34 (45 balls), hitting new bowler Isla Cutler to Kashyap at short fine leg.

Some tight death bowling from Cutler and Mitchelmore restricted Charlbury to five extra runs from the remaining twelve balls, as Aysha Monk was run out by wicketkeeper Maisie Wright off the last ball of the innings, with Charlbury finishing their innings on 97-9.

Highlights of the Oxford bowling analysis were Jacob's 2-19 (20 balls), Grayon's1-15 (20 balls), Kashyap's 1-12 (15 balls) and Cutler's 1-4 (10 balls).

Oxford's run chase was kicked off by Mitchelmore and Bartram, who shared a 50-run opening partnership in 29 balls, before Natalia Plater was introduced into the attack. The game took a twist as Plater removed both Bartram (20 from 15 balls) and Mitchelmore (33, 23 balls) in the space of three balls to bring Grayson and Porter together in the middle with 39 runs still required. Grayson accelerated, hitting two sixes over deep square leg as Oxford coasted over the line with 42 balls to spare, Grayson finishing on 33* (16 balls) and Porter on 6* (6 balls). Standout bowling figures for Charlbury went to Plater, taking 2-10 off 15 balls.

Huge thanks to Challow & Childrey CC for hosting the day and to Finn Aston for their efforts as the stand-in announcer during the game. The Oxford CC tiara for player of the game went to Laura Jacob, while the wooden spoon was shared between Genny Porter and Sophie Grayson, for some questionable running between the wickets in the latter stages of the run chase.

Huge congratulations again to the team, including all those involved in the group stage matches - let's make it three in a row next year!

Full scorecard - https://oxford.play-cricket.com/website/results/7199867