Captain, Darrel Dimond enjoyed arguably his best victory as first-team captain on Saturday against mid-table rivals Sparsholt.
Batting first, the Oaks got off to a steady start before Dan Sumner departed on 12, leaving Paddy Saines to steady the ship with an excellent half-century. When Gerry Dique departed for 42, Darrel changed the order with Tommy Holbrook (24), Alex Brundle (16), and Michael Wood (16) all contributing to the total of 193, with some entertaining late-order hitting.
Sparsholt got off to a flying start, and it was not long before the game looked out of reach as they raced to 130 for 1 off just 25 overs. However, Darrel provided inspiration by interchanging the bowling which, after the first breakthrough, caused carnage in the Sparsholt line-up.
Dan Jones, Alex Brundle and Gerry Dique all contributed, leaving it down to Mark Potter to be the hero of the hour as Sparsholt collapsed 4 short of victory to ensure absolute scenes. All in all, the most positive aspect of the performance was the fact that Oakley kept going when the odds were stacked against them, in what was the best performance of the season so far. Well done to the lads, and well done to Darrel.
Up the Oaks!