The friendliest game of cricket ever…….

OMT 172 all out (Kenburg 62)

beat

Windsor 145 all out (Chana 54, Nokeli 4 for 37)

windsor travelled away to OMT, to look to try and gain some valuable points against another team struggling at the bottom of the table. The usual distractions of bridesmaids walking near the boundary at OMTs ground were put to the back of mind for this crucial game. the wicket was soo green that Hill was wary of winning the toss. Windsor wanted to bat for the points but thought this wicket could be a bit spicy. OMT (a top bunch of blokes) and Windsor always have good competitive matches and both were keen to play in the best spirit of the game, and this was demonstrated on the pitch.

Windsor lost the toss and OMT choose to bat. Hill and returning S Condon opened proceedings quite tightly, bearing in mind the right and left hand batting partnership. OMT were clear from the outset that they were ‘going to have a go’ at anything wide or short and punished these deliveries. Condon got one to rear a little and removed McCabe caught behind and Hill soon followed suit removing Boarley caught behind as well. Kenburg looked to get himself settled whilst Hill removed batsmen 4 and 5 and OMT were stuttering on 4 for 49. Hill ending his spell on 8 overs, 3 for 38. Edge replaced Condon and started ‘ploughing a furrow’ in from the pavilion end. He made the batsmen play and miss countless times and the wicket was ading the seamers a lot. Edge had the politest sledging match with the OMT batsmen Hill had ever heard during his spell! Kellard replaced Hill got the batsmen to start play more shots in the air. McPhearson and Kenburg pushed OMT to 142 as OMT started to gain runs quickly. Edge was rewarded for his efforts by returning figures of 11.4 overs, 3 for 42. with only 10 batsmen, OMT posted a reasonable 172 and gave Windsor 61 overs to chase them.

Hill, pleased at bowling a team out again, was hoping his batsmen would do him proud this week. Chana, drafted in after his 100 for the Sunday 1’s the previous week, looked solid and in comand from the word go opening with Noble. Windsor raced to 36 runs, but over number 14 changed the face of the game. Modi, a young seamer, was pushing the ball through hard and removed Noble caught behind. K Condon followed Noble back to the Pavillion the very next ball. Nilesh ran a single and was caught in no mans land with a mix up on a run with Chana. Windsor were facing a familiar collapse, and were now 36 for 3! Tom Bullock was bowled in the next over from Nocheli! Malik went to the crease looking to stop the rot and steadied the ship but slowing the run rate too, until the 33 over where he was removed by Richards. George went about his innings fast and scored some lovely shots and was joined by Hill once Chana was out for 54. Hill tried to keep the momentum going but Windsor kept losing wickets. S Condon and Kellard tried bravely at the end to push for the win, but failed when Katz removed an under the weather S Condon in the 51st over with Windsor only needing 28 to win.

Disappointing. these are the games we should be winning against teams in the relegation battle with us. 61 overs to chase 172 is not a task that should be beyond the WCC players we have in this side. All too often this season the 7th or 8th batsman is going in with under 100 on the board. For the number 8 to be 2nd highest scorer on 21 tells a tale….This is not good enough and it seems that the players are leaving it too late to fight their way out of last place. Windsor travel to North Maids next Saturday.