Purley-on-Thames 253 for 4 off 52 Overs (P Allen 72, P Woodford 66*)
Windsor 2’s 256 for 3 off 46 Overs (Cant 129, Chana 49, Davis 46)
With the sun blazing down on the Home Park, Windsor CC finally returned home this week for their TVCL Division 4A game against Purley-on-Thames. On a hard wicket, Windsor were disappointed to lose the toss and thus have to bowl first.
Regular opening bowlers Hartridge and Kemp immediately set to work and would provide tight lines in the early overs, resulting in the removal of Purley opener M Schofield for 7 in the 7th over. This brought Clark to the crease to join his skipper Allen to start to swing the momentum Purley’s way. The run rate began to quicken as the shine left the ball and track began to play true and only a fine ball by Awan to remove Clark for 31, slowed the pace of the innings with the score at 85 for 2. Reber continued the hard work with Allen and they soon pushed the scoring rate up further, disposing of anything offline from the Windsor bowlers. When skipper Allen was removed to sharp catch by Davis off Kellard for 72 with score at 137 for 3, Windsor sensed an opportunity. But a fine innings of 66 not out from Woodford, working well with Reber and then A Schofield, pushed Purley to an impressive total of 253 for 4 off their 52 overs. Windsor were disappointed with conceding such a total and knew they were in with a fight in order to continue their fine start to the season.
Regular Windsor opener Chana saw yet another new partner to begin the innings, this time in the form of Michael Cant, a former overseas player from 2000 who was in the area for the week. With such a huge target in their sights, the Windsor pair grafted well in the early overs to blunt the new ball and provide a solid foundation. Cant took advantage of the Purley bowlers straying, with some particularly venomous shots off his legs. The openers passed the 100 mark and left just short of 150 with 20 overs to go, a stiff ask, but possible. When Chana fell on 49, their partnership had reached 122 for the 1st wicket. Davis joined Cant with the equation set at 132 to win with 17 overs left, just under 8 an over. Cant did not lose stride with the new partner and the pair began to pick up momentum. The left-hand, right-hand combination played into Cant’s hands as Purley continue to stray onto the openers legs, with one huge six clearing the boundary by 30 yards, landing in the club’s new nets. Cant completed a fine 100 with an exquisite cover drive and celebrated his return to the club in style. When he finally fell for 129, after a partnership of 93 with Davis, Windsor were well set for victory, needing just over 40 off 8 overs. Davis followed shortly for 46, but it was left to vice-captain Malik and back-in-form Lines to see Windsor over the finish line in style, reaching 257 for 3 off just 46 overs.
This was a fantastic win for Windsor 2’s and one that continues the fine start to the season. It was also a nice moment for a club that pride’s itself on creating strong bonds with all overseas players that have played at The Home Park, always leaving the door open for a return. It was also nice for some of the younger players to put a face to the name of the owner of the club’s record individual highest score (219*) and to see the quality of the player who achieved it.
This weekend, Windsor travel to Ruislip to play an important away match against the side currently lying third in the table.