With half of the group games now played in this year’s Windmill Whack competition, the table is starting to take shape. All of our five franchises have now played two games each and two sides already look to have one foot at Finals Day.

One of those sides is the Griffin Grandmasters who last night picked up their second win from two games, when they overcame the Kushoom Bugh Tigers. The Grandmasters are in the competition for the first time, with Griffin Group having become the club’s main sponsor earlier this year, and they have hit the ground running with two impressive performances. Ed Knight and Nathan Dowdall were in the runs in their first match, where they saw off the Govani Maestros by 21 runs, and then last night the batting of Ollie Hinton and the all-round skills of Max Carter Miller ensured they beat the Tigers by 25 runs.

The other side who still have a 100% winning record are the Mullis & Peake Monarchs. Joe Warren and Brandon Millard were in the runs as they picked up an opening day win over the Maestros and they backed that up with an impressive all-round performance to thrash the BrewDog Braves in mid-June. The Grandmasters and the Monarchs go head-to-head on Sunday 27th July, and the winners of that game will be guaranteed a place at Finals Day.

At the other end of the table, two sides are yet to taste success in this year’s competition. The Govani Maestros may feel the fixture computer was a little tough on them, as they have had to face the Grandmasters and the Monarchs so far, with both games ending in defeats, while the BrewDog Braves lost a tight opening day contest with the Kushoom Bugh Tigers before being well beaten by the Monarchs. The Maestros and Braves face one another in the next game of the competition, Wednesday 16th July, and the loser of that game knows they will be out of the competition.

Sitting in mid-table at the halfway point are Kushoom Bugh Tigers. Hockey stars Callum Berry and Liam Robertson were in the runs for the Tigers as they kicked off the campaign with a win over the Braves, but they lost out to the Grandmasters this week despite runs from England Hockey International Ethan Berry. The Tigers have a strong looking squad and so will still fancy their chances of making Finals Day and they face the Govani Maestros next on Sunday 27th July.

REMAINING GROUP GAMES:
Weds 16th July – 6.00pm – Govani Maestros v BrewDog Braves;
Sun 27th July – 1.00pm – Kushoom Bugh Tigers v Govani Maestros;
Sun 27th July – 4.00pm – Griffin Grandmasters v Mullis & Peake Monarchs;
Sun 10th Aug – 1.00pm - Kushoom Bugh Tigers v Mullis & Peake Monarchs;
Sun 10th Aug – 4.00pm - Griffin Grandmasters v BrewDog Braves;

The “Dav Lav Pav” will be open for the game on 16th July so it would be great to see a big crowd in attendance for what is a crucial game for both sides.