Crowthorne and Crown Wood 2 XI narrowly beat Reading United to stay top of the Berkshire Division 1B.
Crowthorne and Crown Wood 2 XI ran out close winners against Reading United winning by 12 runs.
The win keeps the east Berkshire side top of the league having won five of their first six games. Crows captain D.S Finucane won the toss and elected to bat under grey skies.
Muggy conditions aided the Reading United bowlers with plenty of swing from the start. Openers, A.C Avrili (11) and D.S Finucane (12), made an explosive start, but both fell early to the bowling of S Shah.
A Baines (46) and R Godbole (45)stabilised the innings with some fine stroke play. However, both unable to go on to a 50 with Baines bowled by S Tyagi and Godbole caught and bowled by A Patidhar.
As the innings drew to a close and with wickets in hand, CCWCC accelerated the run rate. M Wulff (39), D Shaw (17*) with some expansive shots and a better than a run-a-ball 15* from S Sheppard took Crowthorne and Crown Wood to an impressive 206-6.
As the teams went out for the Reading United innings the leaden skies, that yielded some short showers in the first innings, offered some hope for the bowlers of some assistance from above.
A superb full-length diving catch down the leg side saw Reading Untied lose their first wicket on just the second ball of the innings.
A Nikumbh the unfortunate man caught of the bowling of young A Mansfield.
Some lusty blows from S Jain (28) and P Pai (32) saw the required run rate falling faster than the rain. Both were removed by the bowling of A Long caught by M Wulff and S Sheppard respectively.
The battery continued with K Bisht (30) and A Yadav (46) jangling more than a few Crowthorne nerves around St Sebastian’s.
With the required run rate below five, an inspired bowling change from captain Finucane saw A Baines and R Godbole brought into the attack to try and change the tide of the match.
A Baines taking the wickets of K Bisht and A Yadav, bothcaught superbly at Long-On by D S Finucane amid the squalls of drizzling rain.
A 40-yard direct hit run-out from A.C Avrili dismissed G Kolluru and Crows fans could breathe a little easier as Reading United required 23 from the final two overs.
A great reaction caught and bowled in the final over from A Baines to dislodge S Chodimella was the final wicket as Reading United fell just 13 runs short of victory.
The win helps Crows continue their pursuit of the title.
On the win, D.S Finucane said: ‘It was a fantastic win. It’s great to be involved in tight fixtures like this. The team kept their heads and pulled through. It’s a great side to be a part of and there’s a real feel-good factor within the camp.”
Next up for the Crows is a trip to bottom of the league Stallions CC. But with less than three points between Crowthorne and Crown Wood and local rivals Rangers CC, they may yet find themselves playing the role of king makers.
