Windsor 2nd XI vs Cookham Dean 1st XI 28/6/2008
Cookham Dean 282-7 49 Overs
Miller 82
Lambden 92
Hill 3-55
Windsor 175 All Out 42.4 Overs
M. Alam 41
On Saturday Windsor travelled to Cookham Dean for their top of table clash looking for a win to distance themselves from the chasing pack. On a bright sunny day Skipper Huggins was again looking to win his second toss of the season with the wicket looking flat, hard and ideal for batting. However, again it was not to be and Cookham had no hesitation in opting to bat first.
Windsor’s new ball pair of Hartridge and Hill soon found the going tough as the Cookham openers Brooks and Miller dispatched any loose deliveries on offer which raced away across the quick out field. It was Hill who struck the first blow for Windsor finding some inswing to trap Brooks L.B.W for 10. This brought Gandesha to the crease and his stay was only a brief one when Hill yorked him for 2 and Windsor were clawing their way back into the game with the score at 54-2. From here though Miller and Lambden took the game away from Windsor with some assured batting. Miller was quick to punish anything over pitched and after a watchful start Lambden joined in on the act stroking three half volleys to the boundary from one Hill over.
Edge was introduced into the attack and almost struck with his first delivery, but, a regulation chance from Miller was put down at square leg and from here the two batsman offered nothing as they started to dominate a wayward Windsor attack. Kellard was then introduced, but he too was to suffer the same fate as his first over went for 9. As the overs went by the run rate only increased with Lambden finding the offside boundary almost at will. It was the introduction of Malik to the attack that finally brought about the break through as Miller after hitting the first two balls of the over for 4 holed out to Hill at deep midwicket for a well made 82. This left the score at 178 for 3 and with plenty of time remaining and wicket is hand Cookham were well placed for a massive score.
Windsor toiled away manfully in the heat, however, with the Cookham batsman able to chance their arms the runs continued to flow. Butt came and went for 7 as he was bowled by Kellard and it was Bibby who proved to be the next able ally for Lambden as the two continued to force the pace with some clean hitting and good running. Lambden was out next run out for 92 care of some good work in the deep by Hartridge. Windsor continued to chip away as Austin was bowled by Hartridge for 1 and then Nunn removed for 4 bowled by Hill and the declaration came at the end of the 49th over with the score at 282 -7. Windsor knew they faced a massive challenge if they were to win the game.
Windsor’s reply got off to the worst possible start as Noble was trapped LBW second ball of the innings by Butt as Cookham took the old ball and opened with spin. Skipper Huggins decided to promote Alam to three and this had the desired effect as he struck his first ball for 4 and soon set about the Cookham bowling. Chana was next back in the pavilion for 5 after a top edged pull from the bowling of Butt well held in the deep by Miller and it looked as if the Windsor innings was losing it’s way. Malik was in next and he too looked to keep the score board moving with Alam who was regularly finding the boundary. Alam was next out though unluckily stumped for 41 from the bowling of Patel as the ball rebounded off the keepers pads onto the stumps. With the score at 66 for 3 Skipper Huggins joined Malik looking to halt the steady fall of wickets, but, this was not to be the case as Malik was bowled through the gate by off spinner Gandesha for 23. Riches then strode out to the crease and after a couple of well struck 4’s he was bowled by a googly from Bibby for 9 and Windsor were firmly on the back foot at 103 for 5.
Hartridge joined Huggins and the pair played sensibly working the ball around and dispatching any loose deliveries for 4. With the partnership growing it was Huggins to go next for 25 as he drilled a Gandesha half volley to wide mid off. Worse was to the come as Hartridge played on for 23 off the first ball of the next Rosenthal over and the chase was all but over with the score at 144 for 7. Hill was next to perish bowled by Gandesha as he was beaten in the flight for 3 and George was soon to follow as he could only fend one back to Patel that got big on him. It was left to final pair Kellard and Edge to try and salvage a draw for Windsor with a number of overs remaining. After some dogged defence mixed with a few lusty blows Windsor’s resistance was finally broken in the 43 over as Edge was bowled by Rosenthal for 9 to leave Windsor 175 all out.
It was disappointing to suffer the first defeat of the season by such a large margin and there will be plenty of room for improvement in next weeks home game against Finch. The bowlers will need to regain the discipline that has served them so well up to this point. On the batting front there will need to be more application, as although a number batters looked in good nick and got starts they will need to kick on and register 50’s and beyond if the team is to be successful in chasing runs and posting totals again.