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Duckworth-Lewis win in wet & windy Windsor - 5th June 2011

BY DISHY:

A beautiful setting but grey skies, wind, drizzle and a damp, skiddy wicket for this fixture against Egham Roses.

Skipper-for-the-day-Dishy won the toss and, with several players not yet arrived, opted to bat rather than take the field with only 8 fielders.

Things began well with an opening stand of 38 between Tuffers and Argy Bargy. The first to admit he is not a natural opener, Argy Bargy took a particularly proactive approach, smashing his very first ball over long on. He struck several other boundaries in a quickfire 17.

Tuffers, having looked in good form unfortunately edged to slip for 22 and L’iL Riche then departed too soon, out for 1. Naresh and Arwel put together a useful stand, both striking some great shots and running well between the wickets, but they were out in quick succession (Naresh 42; Arwel 11), prompting a substantial collapse.

Khan and Sabi both came, swung and departed; Dishy missed a dibbly-dobbly; Morse was given out LBW. This meant Nomads were in great peril at 127-9 with 10 overs of the allotted 35 still remaining.

However, Egham Roses had not counted on the steel hidden in the very tip of the Nomads’ apparently fluffy tail: an heroic last man stand of 49 between Rusty (25 not out) and Mahesh (18 not out, including a notable 4 from what appeared to be a Dilshan-scoop) ensured Nomads batted out the full 35 overs and reached 176-9.

Tea, which it seems worth mentioning included ice lollies, was enjoyed before Nomads met in the changing rooms for a quick team talk and took the field focused and fired up.

Argy Bargy and Mahesh opened and with straight bowling plus pressure from the fielders (especially Arwel, Naresh, L’iL Richie and Rusty behind the stumps), Egham Roses were soon in substantial trouble at 35 for 3; 2 wickets for Argy Bargy, 1 for Mahesh; all 3 bowled.

However at this point the rain came in even more heavily and both teams took shelter in the hut until, with the square sodden, the captains finally agreed to call it a day.

Truth be told, even allowing for the conditions this was a poor batting display from the Nomad middle order. However the resilient last wicket stand between Rusty and Mahesh got Nomads off the hook. Good straight bowling with keen fielding then ensured the Nomads were a long way ahead when the Duckworth-Lewis method was applied.

MOM: Rusty
Nomad of the Day: Mahesh