Stuart Laudat was the star of the show as Oxford edged past Welwyn Garden City by two wickets on Saturday to go top of Division 1.

With wickets falling regularly around him, Laudat’s knock of 70 in 75 balls, plus a cameo innings of 47 from only 27 balls from Stuart Hole down the order, was key to Oxford’s victory.

The home side won the toss and opted to bowl, but the visitors got off to a steady enough start.

Jamie Hewitt and Louis Champion shared 45 for the first wicket, before Hole dismissed Hewitt.

Hole and Shamilal Mendis finished with three wickets apiece, and had it not been for an excellent last wicket stand of 66 between Ray Hodge and Simon Greenhall, Oxford would have been chasing a far lower target than the 228 they had been set.

But Oxford also found the going tough, and lost early wickets to be in some trouble at 32-3.

Laudat and Jamie Perkin steadied the ship with a 44-run stand for the fourth wicket.

However, Oxford were still in difficulty at 115-5 and it took a solid partnership of 48 bet-ween Ian Crosby and John Barrett to get them back on track.

Hole’s quickfire innings of 47 not out, which included 11 boundaries got Oxford over the winning line with seven overs to spare.