A near flawless three hours of Cambridge cricket rendered Oxford outclassed and overwhelmed, as the light blues romped to an eight wicket win with some 29 balls to spare. Sensational spin bowling left Oxford in a twirl, bundling the dark blues out for a woefully insufficient 106, before Kottler killed off any hopes of a comeback with a blistering 31 ball half century.

Three powerplay wickets earned Cambridge an early stranglehold, and regular wickets thereafter saw the light blues apply an ever-tightening squeeze on a suffocated Oxford batting lineup. After Oxford limped to a paltry first innings score, Cambridge’s batters were breezy in reply – a first ball wicket proved to be the most momentary of blips in an otherwise effortless run chase. On one of the biggest days of their cricketing lives, eleven men in light blue whipped up a T20 masterclass.

Cambridge’s decision to bowl at the toss seemed a bold one under the bluest of skies, but ended up being the first of many inspired calls from captain Alex Ferreira. A dozen runs off the opening over was about the pinnacle of Oxford’s listless batting effort, and their lively start was almost immediately dampened when offspinner Newman castled George Roberts with only the seventh ball of the match. By the end of the very next over both Oxford openers had perished; Stanley Norman’s pace undoing the aggressive Amogh Karpe, who skewed a toe-ended drive which was duly pouched at cover.

“On one of the biggest days of their cricketing lives, eleven men in light blue whipped up a T20 masterclass”

New man Vivek Naryan looked to follow Karpe’s hard-hitting example, carving Newman backward of point for an elegant boundary, but was soon spun into submission by the introduction of Cambridge’s devastating left arm orthodox duo. With Alex Davis darting it in menacingly from one end and Sebastian Hughes-Pinan bowling with real rip and drift from the other, Narayan desperately sought some form of release valve – charging at Hughes-Pinan, only for the ball to turn sharply past his attempted slog and keeper Freddie Kottler to whip off the bails. Following this string of early setbacks, Oxford found themselves at an unenviable 34-3 by the end of the powerplay, paving the way for Davis and Hughes-Pinan to inflict yet more damage upon the dark blues.

The finger-spin pair’s incessant pressure forced Saqlain Choudary to resort to misguided innovation, the number 5’s attempted reverse sweep off Hughes-Pinan ultimately pootling into the hands of Ramisetty at point. At 42-4 Oxford were in all sorts, but the left-handed Henry Nicholls then compiled an assured 16 runs – which, remarkably, was to be his side’s highest score of the day. Even he was not immune to Cambridge’s contagious pressure though, falling victim to a nifty piece of glovework from Kottler, who snared a legside stumping after Davis whizzed a quicker delivery past the advancing batter.

By the end of Davis and Hughes-Pinan’s spells, Oxford had stammered to 66-5 and were likely expecting some direly needed respite. But new bowler Tom Skerret decided to immediately leave any lingering Oxford batting hopes in tatters, dismissing opposition captain Justin Clarke with just the second ball of his stint, and sending Toby Brown packing off the penultimate ball of the over. In a fitting metaphor for Oxford’s batting woes, Brown had only been able to muster a top edge off a full toss crying out to be hit.

It was as if the Oxford innings had been sent into a steady downwards spiral ever since the opening over, and with the score reading 68-7 the light blues were running rampant. In the 15th over Oxford frustration gave way to miscommunication, leading to a fatal mix up between Max Kirkby and Robbie Hardwick which sent the latter running all the way back to the changing rooms. Having watched a procession of top order wickets, number ten batter Chris Mingard proceeded to swivel pull the very first ball he faced over fine leg – bringing up Oxford’s first boundary in over 70 balls.

The fun was quickly curtailed however when Skerret speared a quicker, flatter delivery into Mingard’s pads, securing a third wicket of the afternoon for Cambridge’s quite outstanding leg spinner. A spirited display from last man Chris Carnegie hauled Oxford’s total from 87-9 to up past the century mark, and it took until the final ball of the innings for his and Kirkby’s stubborn tail end resistance to finally be quashed. Following a last-ditch attempt to pinch a second run, Kirkby was easily run out; Oxford dismissed for a disappointing 106, hamstringed by Cambridge’s sensational spin attack.

At the halfway mark, champagne corks were likely already popping in Cambridge ears. Oxford had hobbled through their innings, and a particularly short boundary to one side meant their already subpar total was going to take some serious defending. Captain Clarke took the new ball and gifted the dark blues the perfect start they needed via an imperfect ball, a full toss on the pads which Sam Norman flicked straight to a jubilant Narayan at square leg. But any chance of a crisis was instantaneously averted; Cambridge skipper and number three Ferreira took a nonchalant single off his first ball at the crease, setting the stage for Kottler to crash seven more runs off an eventful opening over.

Sensing glory was on the horizon, Kottler pounced decisively in the third over. The belligerent batter whipped Clarke’s first ball off his toes for four, then creamed the next delivery down the ground to the same effect, before seizing on a shorter delivery which he clattered through mid-on for a third boundary in four balls. Ferreira soon joined the feast, notching the eighteenth run off the over with an elegant stroke through square leg for four more. In the space of just 18 balls, Cambridge had already wiped out over a quarter of their deficit, sitting pretty at 29-1.

Looking to stymie the torrent of runs, Oxford turned to leg spinner Mingard, who couldn’t cling on to a challenging caught and bowled chance off Kottler. The rampaging Cambridge batter rubbed salt into Mingard’s wounds two balls later, shimmying down the wicket and planting the spinner back over his head for yet another boundary. The next over, Oxford paceman Carnegie appeared to be stringing together a series of dot balls, until Kottler contemptuously whipped a straight delivery over square leg for the first six of the match.

“Kottler’s astonishing assault reduced the Oxford fielders to passive spectators”

Kottler’s astonishing assault reduced the Oxford fielders to passive spectators; when Mingard dared to toss up a legspinner, Kottler smashed him 10 rows deep into the stands, before dispatching a drag down to the midwicket fence to complete a brutal powerplay. Six overs done, Cambridge were 54-1 and galivanting towards victory.

Oxford continued to ring the bowling changes, trying to manifest an escape route that simply wouldn’t appear. Kottler soon took a liking to off spinner Choudhary, slog sweeping him for a towering six to bring up a rapid-fire 52 off 31 balls. Over the course of a bruising 7.2 overs, Kottler’s muscular and magnificent stroke play had managed to suck any remaining tension out of the game. Seven balls later, Kottler’s sublime knock met an unfortunately tame end when Clarke took a sharp, low catch off a mistimed legside heave.

Any hopes that Kottler’s wicket could be Oxford’s lifeline were quickly put to bed by incoming batter James Cake. With Ferreira providing an ever-steady presence at the other end, Cake raced along to 16 off 10, with highlights including an authoritative pull shot as well as a sumptuous cover drive – both of which duly raced to the fence. Cambridge’s number four had the crowd in raptures when he effortlessly caressed Kirkby down to third man for his fourth boundary, and was the man on strike when his side’s cakewalk to victory was sealed. Looking to win it with an audacious ramp shot, the ball flicked Cake’s pad and hurtled away for a victory-sealing four – a hectic end to the most leisurely of run chases.

For all Kottler and Cake’s boundary bashing, it would be amiss not to give Ferreira’s 24* (35) its due plaudits. Called upon after just the second ball of the innings, Ferreira played with the poise of a true leader, anchoring the Cambridge run chase with a chanceless and invaluable knock.

Over 15.1 overs, the light blue batters came close to run chase perfection, emulating their bowlers’ brilliance and cementing a complete cricketing performance. Cambridge were simply a cut above, storming their way to a clinical and classy Varsity triumph. This was truly an afternoon to bottle up and bask in for the men’s blues; their cricket had glowed as brightly as the glorious spring sunshine, and the sweetest of victories was theirs to savour.