Windsor come close as Falkland drop the shutters

Windsor 226 for 7; 49 Overs (Bird 96, Towse 51)
Falkland 178 for 8; 49 Overs

With the clouds finally parting for the first time in days, Windsor 1’s visited Falkland looking to continue on what was a good start to the league season the week before. Acting captain Craig Bird won the toss and chose to bat first and take advantage of the wet conditions and potentially a wet ball.

Windsor openers Bird and Davis took advantage of the conditions as they got the innings of to a quick start. On a fine batting surface, both were severe on anything short, with the latter hooking a six on to the roof of the opening bowler’s car. A four from Bird brought up the fifty opening stand, a feat not achieved for some time by a Windsor pair. As the rain began to cease the ball dried and started to see some movement off the pitch. A rather ambitious shot from Davis (26) saw his demise; soon followed by Clarke two balls later, falling to an inswinging yorker.

This brought Towse to the crease, who immediately continued his fine form, building a huge partnership with Bird who soon past fifty. The scoring rate continued to rise as Bird in particular took advantage of the short boundary, swatting some poor leg side deliveries for six. Shortly after Towse reached his fifty, a misplaced moment of bravado from Bird saw him miss out on a deserved century as he mistimed his charge down the track and was duly stumped for 96. Towse followed soon after, dismissed via a fine direct-hit run out for 51.

For the second week in a row, the final overs saw a flurry of wickets as Windsor tried to gain as high a total as possible. Upon reaching 226, Bird declared the innings early to allow the chance to use 49 overs to maximise the opportunity to bowl Falkland out and gain maximum points.

After tea, Windsor chose to take the old ball and looked to expose the Falkland top order with the spin of Mohindru and reverse swing of Cornish. Both bowled very well, but it was Cornish who made the early breakthrough and took the first wicket. Falkland looked to bat aggressively early on, but the introduction of Nicholls and Edge, along with the new ball, soon saw two quick wickets peg them back. Some lusty blows from Baig, continued the Falkland assault, but upon his departure to Nicholls the scoring rate soon slowed. As the Falkland tried to attack, they continued to lose more wickets with Nicholls taking 4 wickets in the process. At 7 down and 12 overs to go, Falkland quite literally shut up shop and decided to bat out for a draw. The introduction of Mirza and return of Mohindru saw spin at both ends and despite incredibly attacking fields, Falkland continued to block out and rare attacking shots were greeted with ironic cheers.

Close calls continued to come and go, but the final ball of the innings saw Mirza claim a deserved wicket and Falkland lose their eighth wicket, giving Windsor an extra bonus point whilst claiming a winning draw. For the second week in a row Windsor ended with 14 points and perch 4th in TVL division 2A. What is encouraging is that all five bowlers used took a wicket, demonstrating the good balance in the side this year.

Windsor 1st XI vs. Burnham 2nd XI (TVL Division 2A)
Saturday 13th May:

Windsor 202 for 9 52 Overs (A Towse 67, A Nazir 5-41)
Burnham 2’s 194 for 8 48 Overs (W Nicholls 5-72)

With four weeks of pre-season friendlies and netting behind them, Windsor 1st XI played there first game in Thames Valley League Division 2A this past Saturday. It always promised to be a stern test against local rivals Burnham and the game proved to live up to it’s billing.

Upon winning the toss, Windsor captain Warren Griffiths chose to bat first. Openers Craig Bird and Brian Davis faced a difficult opening burst, with the ball swinging and seaming in the overcast conditions. Indeed Bird’s forward defensive shot was beaten by a huge leg-cutter from Nazir; a feat repeated two overs later on Windsor No.3 Clarke. Towse then joined Davis, who together began to sow the seeds of recovery. Unfortunately, a smart catch a square-leg saw Davis depart for 29 and it was left to Millman and Towse to further the Windsor cause. This they did magnificently, as they began to build a strong partnership that put Windsor on top. Millman finally fell for a fine 48. Towse continued on with mini partnerships with Cornish and Mirza taking him to a well-deserved fifty. When he finally fell for 67, Windsor was still 30 runs from the desired 200 and maximum batting points. Lusty blows from Mirza and Baumgartner helped the cause and, despite some interesting running between the wickets, Windsor closed their innings on 202 for 9 with Burnham’s Nazir finishing with a fine 5 for 41.

Burnham’s reply almost immediately hit rocky ground, as Windsor’s new overseas all-rounder Wes Nicholls removing both openers in successive overs with some fine bowling. Ably supported by Cornish, Windsor was at this point well on top. Unfortunately, two relatively similar dropped chances off the Burnham numbers 3 and 4 proved costly, as despite being heavily on top, Windsor could not get the desired breakthrough. It was the introduction of Mirza, bowling in tandem with Griffiths that broke the partnership. But with the rain starting to fall more heavily, the ground carried more surface water and meant the ball would need to be dried after every delivery. Not only did this slow the game, but also saw the ball become soft and difficult to grip, which effectively took away the ability to swing, seam or even spin the ball. By this time however, Burnham were way behind the run rate and had to really begin to cut loose. The re-introduction of Nicholls and Mohindru saw wickets fall regularly, with the latter picking up the key wicket of Chaudrey trapped lbw. A fine run-out by Mirza, coupled with Nicholls achieving his five wicket haul would see Burnham losing wickets at a regular pace, despite more than achieving the run rate required to win. Further dropped catches saw the game reach a dramatic final over with 14 runs to win. Despite, one lusty blow, Mohindru managed to rain the Burnham 9th wicket partnership back and Burnham were unable to reach the target of 203 to win. Windsor were awarded the winning draw and took 14 points from the game, Burnham would leave Home Park with just 8 points.

This coming Saturday, Windsor 1st’s play their first away fixture of the season as they travel over to Falkland. This will be the first visit to this picturesque ground for many years and promises to be a good match.