Twickenham 2nd X1 played out a frustrating draw
in a high scoring encounter at British Airways.
After winning the toss,skipper Paul Johnson had
no hesitation in batting first on an excellent looking strip ,on
the hottest day of the summer.
With some enforced changes to the team,Johnson
promoted himself to open with regular opener Aly Vokes,and these
two soon settled in against some wayward bowling.
With openers Sid and Faisal spraying it
around,extras were keeping up nicely with the batsmen,and it took
the introduction of Rahim to tighten things up somewhat.
Even so,the score raced up to 87,before Johnson
was somehow adjudged to have edged a ball behind,that clearly was
nowhere near bat or gloves,for 21.
This brought Jimmy Liebenberg to the crease,and
conscious of playing himself in,scratched around early on,as Vokes
started to cut loose at the other end.
As the heat took it's toll on the
hosts,Liebenberg joined in the fun,and the score rocketed to 184
off just 38 overs,before a tired Vokes chopped a ball on to his
stumps from Prakash,just 6 runs short of his century.This,for the
second week running,had been an excellent display from the big
fella,proving he's still a class act.
When you're staring down the barrel,as BA
were.The last person you want striding to the crease is Dave
Barton.And the kiwi wasted no time,dispatching his fourth ball for
six over mid on.
Liebenberg,meanwhile,was showing a materclass of
strokeplay,dispatching the tiring attack to all corners of the
ground.
When Barton snicked behind on 16,veteran Steve
Victory strode to the crease,and used all his experience to give
as much of the strike to Liebenberg,as he edged his way towards a
superb ton.
With a declaration imminant,Liebenberg hit a
flurry of boundaries,to steam pass the 100 mark,and allow Johnson
to call time on an imposing 275 for 3 off 51 overs.
Liebenberg finishing unbeaten on a magnificant
108.
To their credit,BA set their stall out to chase
down the total from ball one.Opening bowlers Paul Cassidy, and the
recalled Phil Biggs,took some early punishment,as batsmen Corinder
and Sid rode their luck,attacking anything in their arc.This
forced Johnson into an early change,and it payed instant
dividends,as Peter Burke cleaned bowled Sid in his first over.
The scoreboard carried on ticking over at a fair
rate of knots though,as number 3 Bhayani showed an impressive
array of shots.
When Biggs bowled Corinder,for a well deserved
wicket,BA were well placed at 94 for 2.
This brought Ali to the middle,and it soon
became apparant that the hosts best two batsmen were at the
crease,as the runs continued to flow with ease.
Johnson brought himself on to replace Burke,and
quickly picked up the important wicket of Bhayani,bowled for 47.
Home skipper Danish though,carried on the
relentless barrage,with some savage square cuts.But when Johnson
removed the classy Ali,brilliantly caught one handed by Vokes at
mid wicket,T's sensed they could be into the tail.
Centurian Liebenberg,who had replaced
Biggs,removed Faisal,caught behaind by Matt Bendelow.And the
returning Cassidy picked up 3 wickets,including skipper Danish LBW
for 38,as BA appeared to crumble.
When that man Liebenberg brilliantly ran out
Saleem,T's had 7 overs to get the last wicket,and another win
looked a formality.
Number 10,Prakash looked to go down
fighting,hitting a few streaky boundaries,before offering two
chances off Liebenberg,one drilled straight through Biggs at
cover,and the other one put down at mid on by Burke.
Unbelievably,after that,the BA last pair had
little trouble standing firm against everything T's could throw at
them,eventually holding on for a draw at 247 for 9.
A despondant T's trudged off knowing they'd let
10 valuable points slip through their grasp.But will look to
bounce back against North London on The Green next week.
