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Ts dodge the rain to register
59 run victory against Harrow Town
After a slow start to 2007, the
Twickenham First XI is working up a head of steam. Inspirational
hitting from Carlos Nunes and consistent bowling from the Ts’ pace
trio of Justin Scriven, Warwick Paull and Nunes set the platform for
another commanding victory, leaving the Twickenham just outside the
promotion spots in third place in Division 3 of the MCCL.
Given that the Middlesex weather
was more suited to scuba-diving than cricket-playing, the Ts
realised that any points gained from an awkward looking fixture at
Harrow Town would be very useful in making up lost ground on the
divisional pace-setters. And, although play was delayed by 20
minutes before a ball was even bowled, it soon became clear that the
rain might just hold off long enough for a result to possible.
On (yet again) losing the toss,
the Ts took first knock on a track that gave plenty of assistance to
the bowlers. It was not only slow and low (even by English
standards), but there was plenty of lateral movement and both Ts’
openers realised that digging in and building a platform was going
to be vitally important. With former Kenton bowler Hitesh Sejpal
nipping the ball away nicely from the right-hander and generally
bowling tight lines, most of the early scoring came off Rob Peck
(0-31 off 8). Andy Barnes quickly indicated his intent, belting two
corking drives through the covers – only to see them struggle up the
hill and through the heavy grass to barely get three-quarters of the
way to the rope. This really wasn’t going to be a high scoring
game.
Both Ts openers nonetheless
remained admirably patient. Pete Carey sensibly reined in his
favourite drive, realising that it could be a quick fire way to
looping catches up, concentrating on playing both late and with a
full face of the bat. Barnes, meanwhile, was a little more fluent,
picking up a number of twos and threes as the score moved past 50 in
the 20th over. The pace wasn’t electric, but it was
setting up the stage for some big hitting later on.
The opening partnership was
eventually broken in the 30th over when Barnes perished
to the wily off spin of Chanira for 35. The former Ts skipper’s
remark that “you go out there in good form, but the longer you bat,
the more you bat yourself out of it” seemed pretty near to the
mark. Run scoring was anything other than easy. The adage that one
wicket can quickly become two once again proved to be correct as
Carey soon followed him back to the shack, bowled by the tricky left
arm tweak of Desai as he attempted to up the run rate. Carey’s
knock was much less pleasant on the eye than his 98no of the week
before, but it was in many ways no less valuable. Conditions were
tough, and 150 plus was always going to be a challenging target; the
Ts’ openers had done their job by getting Jon Varney’s men at least
half way there.
Kamlesh Desai, the Harrow Town
skipper, persevered with an all spin attack, forcing the Ts batters
not only to start taking a few risks as the clock ticked by, but
also to put all of the momentum on the ball themselves. Warwick
Paull – much like Barnes and Carey before him – couldn’t play many
of the fluent shots that have characterised his batting this year
and soon settled in to play second fiddle to the belligerent Carlos
Nunes. Nunes, meanwhile, has been threatening carnage for a number
of weeks. Harrow Town were the unlucky recipients. Nunes got off
the mark with a towering straight six, before proceeding to rein
things in a little and play himself in slowly. Only when he had
reached 20 did he look to open up his arms and revert to
(aggressive) type. Two sixes went into the far corners of the
adjacent tennis courts, whilst two more went over the old scorebox
in the direction of the nearby Piccadilly Line. Nunes passed 50 in
45 balls, and quickly move on to 64 (49 balls) before being stumped
off Desai. His innings changed the face of the game and all of a
sudden Twickenham were firmly in the box seat. The closing score of
172-3 didn’t look imposing on paper; but Harrow Town knew that they
would have to bat well to get up to anything near total.
A refreshingly different tea (very
nice potatoes and samosas, as well as a nice array of cakes; B+ on
the teameter) was followed by a high-powered start by the Ts to
their stint in the field. Opener Vish Jadunath chased a wide one
and was well taken behind by Varney off Paull, whilst Chanira
departed for 0 to Scriven, chipping the ball straight to square
leg. 10-2. Gihan and Sionkviahna nonetheless played their shots,
realising that mere crease occupation was unlikely to get them too
far; they were going to live or die by their swords. Sionkviahna
drove nicely and looked like he had the ability to put a dent in the
Ts total, but he soon perished to the metronomic Paull for 18. The
dangerous Mike Jadanuath, wearing a very 1980s Graham Gooch style
white helmet, came in at 5. Although circumspect, he drove well and
looked to accompany Gihan through a tricky period for the home
side. The introduction of Nunes stopped Jadunath in his tracks as
the Big C had him caught behind with a nasty lifting delivery for
5. Sejpal – batting for some reason (that no one could quite fathom
out) with only one glove on – came in at six with the clear aim of
upping the scoring rate. It was do or die. A couple of hefty blows
did indeed see the score move on upwards, but Nunes soon dismissed
Harrow Town’s opening bowler nicely caught and bowled. The removal
of Gihan for 34 – lbw to Paull – signalled that the collapse was
well and truly on as Harrow Town languished on 76-6.
Shafi and Peck, batting at 7 and
8, saw little reason to give up the fight; Peck in particular
blazing on three occasions through and over wide mid wicket and mid
on. One club over long on for 6 and the Harrow innings was
beginning to gain a little momentum. Paull, however, soon nipped
any thoughts of an impromptu recovery in the bud, bowling Peck for
15 and trapping Dalal leg before for no score. When Shafi was
bowled by the returning Scriven three wickets had fallen with the
score on 99 and the end was nigh. The last man in, Desai,
illustrated that he could time the ball nicely – and much better
than a fair number of batters who’d come before him – but it wasn’t
long before the ever dependable Justin Scriven cleaned up Schroff
for 4. The final wicket not only brought the Ts 10 points, it was
Scriven’s 200th scalp in the Ts colours. Rarely can a
player have been so pivotal to a club’s success over a sustained
period of time as has Justin Scriven. Green and white through and
through, he led Jon Varney’s men off to a well earned pint in the
bar.
With no other side registering 10
points in the MCCL Division Three on Saturday, this may be one of
those games that Twickenham look back on in September as being
pivotal to their season. The batters proved that they don’t have to
have flat tracks to bat on and that they can bat dirty when
required. Although a couple of chances went down, the Ts produced
another decent display in the field. The remarkable resilience of
the Ts’ mass travelling support – chief photographer Kate Buchanan
and trainee scorer Ying Lin – who braved hell and highwater
(otherwise known as major delays on the Piccadilly Line) to support
the side also deserve a special mention. Next week sees the Ts back
on the Green against 5th placed Hornsey. |
