Match Report

Saturday 25 July 2009, at Cavendish Sports Ground, Field End Road, Eastcote - Drawn (Ref. 200918)

Although more records were broken on another batsman-friendly pitch at Cavendish, Wealdstone Corinthians were unable to force a victory despite taking three wickets in consecutive overs early in the last hour. That still left them with four wickets to take in 14 overs, and 10-man Weasels held out comfortably enough, losing only one more wicket. Earlier Ian Windsor smashed a spectacular century from only 48 balls, the quickest in the club's history by 11 balls, and shared a record unbeaten 5th wicket partnership of 132 with John Wakeling, who scored his fourth fifty in a row on home territory. It took his average at Cavendish over the last year to an astonishing 292, and meant he joined a select list of seven players who have scored five fifties in a season for Corinthians.

Corinthians 239-4 dec (35 overs), I Windsor 100* (48 balls), J Wakeling 60* (85 balls), Raj Meswani 35 (40 balls)

From the moment Andy Naylor pulled the first ball of the match for 4 until Phil Cundy and John Wakeling took 8 runs off the last over another big score looked inevitable against a bowling attack that only rarely delivered the ball on a good line and length. Raj Meswani took two fours off Williams in the 2nd over, and Naylor cover drove Dyer for 4 in the next. Another solid opening stand ended at 35 in the 7th over when Dyer trapped Naylor LBW for 12 and completed his second maiden in a row. There was to be only one more in the innings. Meswani and Wakeling added 51 in 10 overs, with both players particularly strong on the leg side, though Wakeling got off the mark with a stylish square cut for 4. Omar Iqbal slowed the rate briefly when he bowled Meswani via an inside edge in his 2nd over, and was awarded an LBW decision against Chris Brown in his next. It was soon 90-4 as Bob Hyacinth also went for a duck, when Asif Iqbal cut a ball back in sharply to clip off stump. He had previously bowled too short and wide to trouble the batsmen despite useful pace.

The next 13 overs can only be described as carnage, with the record-breaking Windsor innings comprising ..42144.42..4.14.4441616.2141611114.121161.1.162 well supported by Wakeling. Good use of the feet enabled Ian to turn good deliveries into boundaries, which mainly came through and over long on. He hit Omar Iqbal out of the attack with three fours in one over and four in his next, then hit Asam for 6 and 1 towards long on to reach his 50 from 23 deliveries, two outside the record. The 100 partnership, which took just 10 overs, surpassed the 1995 record set by Cundy and Sidpara when Wakeling hooked Shah over square leg for 6 and reached his 50 in the process. Windsor lofted Duff's first ball over long on to reach 98 and hobbled off after completing his century next ball. Many expected a declaration but the agony continued for the visitors another 10 balls and 17 more runs were added. A late start and painfully slow over rate meant it was 4.45pm and only 35 overs had been bowled.

New Barbarian Weasels 146-6 (40 overs), Rohan Meswani 2-29, B Hyacinth 1-8, P Cundy 1-12, M Beasley 1-16, C Brown 1-37

A 40-minute tea break didn't help the home side's cause, though bowling 20 overs in just over an hour did. They opted for leg spin at both ends to tempt the batsmen, and Chatrath punished anything loose. Chris Brown made a breakthrough when Pagan snicked a wide one to give Naylor a low catch. Soon after he was controversially denied the other opener's wicket when he landed a full toss towards the base of off stump. The umpire claimed it had passed the batsman's normal stance above shoulder height, difficult to judge as he ducked so much, but if true it was a trajectory that apparently defied the laws of physics. Chatrath departed soon after when Martin Beasley had him caught at point by Rohan Meswani for 39. Steve Brown was similarly tight, though unrewarded for beating the bat. Weasels started the last hour on 73-2, and a double change was made. In his first over Rohan Meswani removed Williams for 25 when Wakeling dived forward onto the pitch to hold a great low catch. In the next over Bob Hyacinth proved 42 is the answer to everything when he induced an edge from Wilson to Andy Naylor, who achieved the 500th dismissal of his Corinthians career from the 42nd different bowler. It was 83-5 in the next over when Shah clipped Meswani to fine leg but stepped on his wicket in the process. The belated introduction of Phil Cundy brought a quick reward when he yorked Duff with 9 overs left, but the two Iqbals not only survived they added 49 accomplished runs. As the best batsmen on view had their appearance also not been belated the whole innings may have been more interesting.