Windsor 1st got off to the perfect start in their Div 2A with a comprehensive 6 wicket victory over local rivals North Maidenhead on Sat. The side had a very different look to the one that regularly took to the park in 2011.
Will Banner has joined the cub in the offseason from Leigh CC in Liverpool, Luke Patchet, is following in the footsteps of a number of former Windsor overseas in joining from the Maitland / Newcastle area (Australia),Will Harris promoted from the Windsor development structure and Marvin Care, Nick Borland and Harmeet Chana forcing their way back into the team following very strong preseasons.
Weston won the toss and sent North Maidenhead in on what looked like an unpredictable wicket. Wes Nichols soon had the home side in trouble as he knocked back the middle stump of North Maids opener and number 3 bats early doors. Nichols was very well supported by Nick Borland at the other end whom after bowling 6 overs at the same batsmen for a miserly 6 runs was rewarded with his first wicket which was aptly caught behind by Care.
At 39/3 Windsor were well on top but Khan set about rebuilding the North Maids innings with some very sensible batting. His partner was briefly able to match his patience until the introduction of 2011 leading wicket taker, Razor Mohindru. Despite some off season surgery and the fact he was still recovering from his first Jaeger bombs of his life following a preseason trip to Devon, Razor immediately found his areas and was able to break a crucial North Maids partnership when he enticed a rash shot from the North Maids # 4 that Chana caught after bundling his feeble skipper out of the way.
North maids were 69/4. That dismissal set the game up for Windsor as some superb bowling from Allen-Turner and Mohindru made short work on the long North Maids tail which saw them all out for 108.
Windsor started the chase in what is becoming a typical Patchet fashion, the first ball dispatched for a boundary and the opposition captain out of the attack after just one over. Patchet and Harris proved to be a more than perfect odd couple as Patchet continued to punish the North Maids bowling and Harris ticking the score over and being an absolute rock at the other end.
The 50 was brought up without loss, no easy achievement given the wicket and quality of the North Maids bowling, and it wasn’t until the game was pretty well set up for a Windsor victory that Patchet (43) wholed out to long off with less than 40 to get. Mark Huggins (16) struck some lusty blows against his former club and after a slight wobble, a cracking Will Harris (29*) pull shot saw Windsor home with 6 wickets to spare. It was a solid all round performance from Windsor as the side turns its attention a game with a very competitive Eversley X1 next week.
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