A spectacular century by former Surrey batsman David Ward condemned Oxfordshire to a heavy defeat in their Minor Counties KO Cup tie against Hertfordshire at Aston Rowant on Saturday.

Oxon, who had opened their cup campaign with a victory over Wiltshire two weeks ago, lost by 122 runs.

So they must win their two remaining matches to stand any chance of qualifying for the later stages of the competition.

Ward made the most of excellent batting conditions after Hertfordshire had won the toss and chosen to bat.

There were some tidy spells early on from seamers Philip Evans, Jamie Hewitt and Keith Arnold, but the back-up bowling came in for some heavy punishment.

Ward, who struck 11 fours and three sixes while making 105 from 116 balls, shared a second-wicket stand of 189 in just over two hours with Steve Lewis.

The spin of Richard Kaufman and Paul White proved ineffective, and it was left to the medium pace of Stewart Laudat to keep the score in check during the later stages.

Even so, the visitors were able to reach 281-7 from their 50 overs.

Oxon needed a good start if they were to challenge this total, but did not get it.

Aaron Laraman took the first four wickets as the home county slumped to 45-4.

Victory was now out of the question, but Hewitt received some support from Oxon's middle order.

Jack Brooks, with a spirited 32 from 40 balls, ended up top scorer as Oxon were dismissed for 159 in the 47th over.

Their next game is against Bucks at Ascott Park, Wing this Sunday.

HERTFORDSHIRE D Ward lbw Laudat 105 A Lewis c Hawtin b Evans 6 S Lowe b Laudat 84 R Marshall b Laudat 15 B Frazer c Hewitt b Brooks 3 A Laraman c Arnold b Brooks 2 S White c&b Evans 25 M Smith not out 8 T Jenkins not out 3 Extras 30 Total (7, wkts, 50 ovs) 281 Fall: 1-25, 2-214, 3-219, 4-226, 5-233, 6-246, 7-271.

Bowling: Evans 9-1-37-2, Hewitt 8-2-29-0, Arnold 10-1-31-0, Brooks 10-0-65-2, Kaufman 2-0-22-0, White 2-0-24-0, Laudat 9-0-60-3.

OXFORDSHIRE K Mustow c Jenkins b Laraman 15 A Cook b Laraman 2 S Laudat lbw Laraman 21 R Kaufman b Laraman 0 J Porter c Lowe b Skeggs 14 J Hewitt b White 28 I Hawtin run out 12 P Evans b Skeggs 12 J Brooks c Lewis b Smith 32 K Arnold c Smith b Frazer 2 P White not out 1 Extras 20 Total (all out, 46.3 ovs) 159 Fall: 1-10, 2-44, 3-44, 4-45, 5-78, 6-96, 7-110, 8-136, 9-156.

Bowling: Laraman 7-2-26-4, Moore 10-2-35-0, White 10-3-18-1, Skeggs 10-0-40-2, Frazer 6.3-1-20-1, Smith 3-0-13-1.