Lloyd Sabin produced an excellent performance, but it was in a lost cause as Oxfordshire slipped to an eight-wicket defeat against Wales in the ECB Under 15 Cup in Port Tablot.

The home side won the toss and inserted Oxfordshire on a good batting track, and 14-year-old Sabin led the way with an excellent knock.

His innings of 74 contained seven boundaries, and he showed the patience required to open the innings.

Sabin was well supported by Nigel Hume (21) and later by Robbie Nicholson (32) as Oxfordshire posted a useful-looking total of 189-5 from their 50 overs.

In reality, it proved to be 50 runs short as Wales' reply was always up with the run rate.

The star of the show was James Claybrook, who compiled a magnificent unbeaten century.

Although Oxfordshire's bowlers tried hard, they could not bowl consistently in the right areas, and Claybrook in particular punished the bad balls.

The home side had seven overs to spare as they reached their target with just two wickets down, but Oxon can take heart from their batting performance against one of the competition's strongest teams.