The 2's were left frustrated again on
saturday,in what was ultimately to prove to be a wasted journey,
up to Harrow St Marys, due to the rain.
With a team ravaged by unavailability,T's were
greated with a damp,green pitch,and skipper Paul Johnson had no
hesitation in inserting the hosts.
Opening bowlers Phil Biggs and Ryan Combrinck
quickly settled into a rhythem,with Biggs concentrating on line
and length,and Combrincks extra pace causing both batsmen
problems.
Nevertheless,openers Kotecha and Luthra got St
Marys off to a steady start with some aerial shots over the
covers,and it wasn't until the score had reached 34,before T's
got their breakthrough,when Kotecha edged Biggs to a falling
Steve VanNierkerk at 1st slip.
The runs continued to flow,when Malhotra came
to the crease.But the introduction of Srinjoy De,who replaced
the unlucky Combrinck,for his first league bowl of the
season,soon broke the partnership,when Luthra,who'd ridden his
luck,held out to Combrinck at mid on.
It got even better for De when he had
Dharmisiri caught behind by Jon Trippett with out scoring, soon
after.
The left arm spin of Chris Marshall was
introduced to replace Biggs,and along with De, began to tighten
the screw,in what were becoming unpleasant,wet conditions.
Despite Malhotra looking assured from one
end,inroads were being made at the other.
Ruperelia mistimed a Marshall full toss,and
was snaffled by skipper Johnson at mid wicket,and Joshi was plum
LBW,to become De's third victim.
When Malhotra was brilliantly run out from the
boundary by Matt Bendelow,for a well made 50,T's were looking to
skittle the hosts for sub 150.
Unfortunatley,this was where the wheels came
off for Twickenham,as they went to pieces in the last 15
overs,allowing Silva-Kumar and Kanji to up the tempo,aided by
numerous misfields and drop catches,to take the score past 200.
Despite another run out by the excellent
Bendelow,St Mary's were able to finish on 212 for 7 off their 55
overs,with De the undoubted pick of the bowlers finishing with 3
for 42 off 17 overs.
After an excellent tea,Twickenham openers
Eddie Paxton and Chris Marshall strode to the crease in
drizzling conditions,and it wasn't long before Paxton was back
in the hutch,LBW without scoring.As the rain got heavier,so did
the batsmen,as Steve Van Nierkerk announced his arrival with a
couple of booming cover driven boundaries.It soon became
apparant though,that the rain wasn't going to relent.And it was
agreed after an hours break,to shake hands, with T's on 16 for
1.
Back to The Green next week for the visit of
Southall.
