Windsor flying high

WINDSOR 2 242-5 7

R.W.Noble 65

BRITISH AIRWAYS 210

C.Kellard 6-89

Windsor went to the top of league following a superb win against newcomers and early pace setters to the League British Airways at the Home Park last Saturday. With Captain Paul Huggins enjoying a break in Las Vegas and his appointed Vice Captain Alex Hill on wedding duty in South Africa it was a much changed XI that included 3^rd XI skipper Richard Noble, with Max Murray and Steve Ward drafted in from the lower XI’s in an attempt to bolster the team.

Stand in skipper Chris Edge lost the toss and Windsor were inserted on a good looking but greenish deck which offered a bit to the bowlers and Rob Noble and Umar Malik found life difficult against some accurate bowling. After taking the shine off the ball Malik and Brian Davis both departed caught behind and at 45/2 from 16 overs Windsor needed to do some rebuilding. Zimbabwe had the Flower brothers and Windsor have the Noble brothers as Rob was joined by his brother Richard who made an immediate impact on the game. Running between the wickets certainly improved as Richard pushed Rob hard turning 1’s into 2’s and 2’s into 3’s which started to make a big difference to the score. Some lusty blows along the way saw Rob reach his 50 as BA’s change bowlers started to feel the heat. Attempting 1 blow too many however Richard was caught at mid-on for 38 and will be disappointed not to have reached his half century, although his job was done as Windsor had reached 156-4 with 15 overs remaining providing an excellent foundation for the middle order to press on. This they did in superb style as Max Murray and Steve Ward completely dominated the BA attack, both getting into their stride quickly and dispatching the now visibly wilting bowling around the park. With 1 over to go Ward fell for 46 and Murray finished undefeated on 48 as Windsor posted an impressive 242-5 from their 52 overs.

BA had won all their previous games chasing and so despite the large score, Edge impressed the need for Windsor to remain focused and to take the chances when they arrived. However it was a very disappointing start from the opening partnership of Dean Bean and Edge as although Edge removed the prolific Kathait after just 7 overs BA had raced to 74-1 with Bean in particular getting some punishment from BA’s overseas player Sharma. This prompted a double bowling change as the spin of Rahul Moindru and Chris Kellard being introduced with Kellard getting instant result by bowling BA’s other opener. BA were still however playing their shots and motoring along still at 7 an over as Sharma in particular showing his class. However this then played into Windsor’s hands who were happy to keep BA in the hunt and as the chances came Windsor started to capitalise. Both Mohindru and Kellard took wickets at regular intervals as both started marathon bowling spells. Intelligent fielding kept Sharma off strike as Windsor continued to target his partners turning the screw and drying up the runs. Umar Malik took a superb diving catch at Long on to take the 5^th wicket from the bowling of Mohindru and a clever slower ball from Mohindru saw him take a sharp return catch to see BA reduced to 176-6. The turning point of the game however came when Sharma who had so far produced a faultless 68 tried to reverse sweep the leg spin of Kellard to be bowled and it was now Windsor’s game to win. However with time running out and 2 wickets to take Windsor kept their spinners on rather than reverting to their seamers and this ultimately won them the game as still going for their shots Kellard managed to outfox the final 2 batsmen to wrap the game up with 3 overs to go returning excellent figures of 6-89.

This was an excellent win for Windsor and a terrific game of cricket which could have gone either way. Sharma is a class bat for BA and will cause many problems for teams this year but through excellent cricket thinking and great determination in the field Windsor managed to restrict his impact and outthink the remaining batsman to wrap up a great 25 points and to leapfrog BA to go top of the League. Windsor travel to Bagshot next week with 9 players who could conceivably be in the team next week returning and it will be a real headache to decide who goes where for the selection committee after such a magnificent and committed display.