Windsor 1st XI vs. Egham 1st XI

Windsor 206 for 6 (Millman 50)
Egham 207 for 6

Windsor 1st XI began their 2006 campaign with a three wicket loss to an experienced Egham side on Saturday. Windsor won the toss and batted first on what turned out to be a good true wicket, considering the time of the year. Windsor didn’t get off to the best of starts, as the dangerous Bird mistimed a cut to point in just the second over. However, this brought the left-handed Davis to the crease, who along with Huggins, began to take the attack to the Egham seamers. Both batsman rattled along producing some superb cover drives and cuts before Davis played one big shot too many and pulled a short ball straight into the hands of square leg. Clarke joined Huggins and carried on where Davis had left off, playing some commanding shots off the front foot. This prompted Egham to ring the changes, and skipper Whatmore brought on spin from both ends. This slowed Windsor’s progress somewhat, as both spinners bowled with good lines and gained some turn. The left arm spinner was particularly impressive and caused Windsor plenty of trouble with his swinging arm ball. Windsor tried to up the run rate against the spinners and this resulted in Windsor regularly losing wickets. However, all-rounders Millman and Cornish sensibly played themselves in and then opened up to great result. Millman targeted the short boundary, and this paid off, with one Egham bowler being smashed for 20 runs off four consecutive balls. Windsor eventually passed the 200 mark, for 6 wickets down, which led to the declaration.

Windsor looked to make early inroads into a strong batting line up with Griffiths and Cornish taking the new ball. Both bowlers bowled some testing deliveries but the Egham batsman defended the good balls and put away the bad. Cornish, who bowled some very good lines, made the initial breakthrough, having skipper Whatmore smartly caught at first slip by Clarke. Egham carried on chasing down the target and although Windsor rotated their bowlers, they could not break a stubborn second wicket partnership. However, Hill forced Hunt to play back to a full ball and won an LBW. Mark Lines, who suffered some initial punishment, came back, to bowl superbly with his left arm spinners and bowled Hamilton, who was easily their best batsman, round his legs. Griffiths and Cornish also came back on to claim two wickets each, but the Egham batsman held their nerve to pass the total with just one over left and three wickets to spare. This was a very encouraging performance for Windsor against a strong and sporting Egham side.