Wycombe Dragons 2nd XI 214-8 (T. Russell 55*)
Windsor 3rd XI 215-2 (Huggins 104*, Condon 83)
A superb 2nd wicket stand of 160 between Kevin Condon and Mark Huggins led Windsor to a fine victory at Wycombe Dragons on Saturday.
After losing the toss and being asked to field in the hot sunshine at Flackwell Heath CC, Windsor made the best possible start as George Gould found the edge of the Dragons openers’ bat in the first over of the innings without a run on the board. However some lusty blows from numbers 2 & 3 kept the scoreboard ticking along at approximately 5 an over. Sam Jordan was introduced to the attack in the 11th over and the move immediately paid dividends when he, following in Gould’s footsteps, also took a wicket in the first over, also caught behind by wicketkeeper Martin Care.
Jordan continued to bowl a nice tight line and length while at the other end Rob Hodgson took two wickets in successive overs to put Windsor firmly on the front foot. Firstly the dangerous opener N. Martin was well caught by Mohammed Alam in the deep and then the young Dragons wicketkeeper attempted a wild slog off a slower ball and was bowled. Brian Davis regularly passed the edge of the bat for no reward but it was the introduction of Andy Wigley that really tightened the screw on the Dragons. The Dragons’ batsmen found it very difficult to score runs off him and he also chipped in with a four valuable wickets. His first 12 overs cost just 24, but unfortunately for Windsor some late hitting by the Dragons lower order (including 14 off the final over) plus the valuable innings of 54 from Russell, guided their total to 214-8. Still a very respectable score from Windsor’s point of view, on a good batting surface, with a quick outfield.
The Windsor reply started well enough, but after Rob Dawson was bowled for 10 with the score on 27, Mark Huggins joined Kev Condon in the middle and the pair would bat superbly after early scares. They both passed 50 within an over of each other, with Huggins in particular hitting some big boundaries. Once the score went past the 100 mark, the Dragons players visibly wilted and the batmen showed no mercy taking Windsor past 150 and close to victory. Condon was eventually out for an excellent 83, but Huggins stayed to complete his century, finishing unbeaten on 104. Windsor completed a comfortable and fully deserved victory to cement 2nd place in the league.