Match Report – 16th May Vs Finchampstead 2’s (Away)
Penultimate ball Windsor victory at Finch!
After turning up to find a typical Finchampstead wicket (rock hard, beige in colour with very little grass on it) there was little else to do after winning the toss than to bat first. Before the first ball was bowled, and up until just after drinks it looked like a 250 run wicket. Prior to the game starting Finchampstead and Windsor observed a minutes silence in memory of Wes Nichols. Wes always enjoyed playing at and against Finchampstead.
Windsor had a first wicket partnership of 108. Vishal Nair (44) and Adam Weston (49) were stroking the ball confidently to all parts of the ground until Vishal got trapped LBW by Russell Lane. This brought Matt Overall to the wicket only to fall to his first ball in the same vain. Matt was shortly followed by Weston with another LBW. Windsor had to then regroup and get back on track. Finch’s off spinner bowled extremely well and the runs dried up. Austin Ambrose and Adam Allen-Turner were the guys who stood up! Austin and Adam were striking the ball extremely well, regularly finding gaps in the field, which enabled them to accumulate runs consistently up until the end of Windsor’s’ overs. Windsor finished on a slightly below par, but defendable 215.
Windsor took the old ball and started with the experienced Rahul Mohindru (3-21) and young seamer Michael Chambers (3-68). We bowled accurately and built pressure which caused the wickets to fall regularly. Finch soon found themselves on 60-8. We took the new ball shortly after drinks with Tom Hartridge (2-17) and Adam Allen-Turner (1-29). It didn’t prove to be as penetrative as the week before. Windsor remained on the attack which allowed Finch to gain a couple of batting points. We had 15 overs at the last two batsmen and the last wicket didn’t seem like it was going to come. In an attempt to break the partnership, Matt Overall bowled the penultimate over which produced a couple of chances, but the wicket still evaded Windsor. It was down to Michael Chambers to produce some magic in the last over. Michael steamed in down the slope and fired in an in-swinging yorker which clattered into the off stump off of the penultimate ball! Finch’s last wicket partnership was a great effort by both batsmen.
It was another good performance from Windsor CC. We’ve hit the league season running and we’re gaining momentum. It’s important that we maintain the high standards both on the pitch and at training to keep the points coming. We host North Maidenhead this Saturday who dismissed OMT for just 32 last weekend. It’ll be a good challenge and we need to be firing on all cylinders to take all we can out of the game.
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