Twickenham 2nds vs North London 2nds
It is sometimes said of sport that it's not the winning that counts
but the taking part. A noble sentiment, but with no win in four
games the T's travelled up the north circular knowing 30 points was
the number one priority.
On a warm, sunny day Twickenham won the toss and invited North
London to bat first. Paul Cassidy immediately found his rhythm and
consistently hit a nagging length, offering the North London openers
nothing to drive and no opportunity to play on the back foot. At the
other end Ryan Combrinck was producing his best bowling display of
the season so far. Pressure built on the batsmen and it wasn't long
before Cassidy and Combrinck had a wicket apiece. Burns, the number
three, was the only batsmen who appeared in any control and
comfortable at the crease. Ryan's spell was aggressive and he
deserved better than his 1-30. Cassidy, who had dismissed opener
Munn soon had his second wicket, getting rid of Dobson for 5. Both
wickets were thanks to sharp catches from James Jordan standing up.
At 40-3 North London were wobbling and the run rate was going
nowhere. Burns and Hart did their best to bring stability to the
innings and although they hung around for a while new bowlers
Johnson and Liebenberg kept them on a tight leash. Jordan bagged his
third catch, this time off Johno to send Hart back to the pavilion.
As the innings tried to gain some momentum wickets began to fall,
with the Twickenham bowlers and fielders holding their nerve. Jimmy
had the impressive Burns caught at mid on by Hawley for a well made
62, and cleaned up Atchinson, who had shown his intent by hitting
some powerful boundaries. Paul Johnson's long spell (15-1-54-1) up
the hill was rewarded when he had Downie trapped in front. Although
the last pair held out for the final seven overs Twickenham walked
off the happier of the two teams having restricted North London to
181-9. It had been a much improved performance in the field from the
T's and all the bowlers were excellent. Cassidy was the pick of the
attack, taking 3 for 32 from 17 overs.
Aly Vokes had Stuart Amos, making his second XI debut, for company
as he marched to middle to kick off the run chase. Unfortunately for
Mr Vokes, he was soon marching back again having been bowled for 10.
The North London openers, after conceding a glut of wides in the
early overs, soon found their line and scoring wasn't easy for Amos
and Storey. Both played and missed on multiple occasions but managed
to take the score up to 46 before Amos was bowled for 25. The
innings now took a similar shape to the previous week with batsmen
getting in and getting out without making a substantial score.
Liebenberg again looked impressive but departed for 10. Storey was
happy to occupy the crease and keep the board ticking over with
singles. Simon Hawley was more proactive, and struck the ball
beautifully. These two put on fifty and appeared to be taking
Twickenham onto a comfortable victory. But Hawley (27) was bowled by
the leg spin of Zahoor and Srinjoy (17) was soon picked up by the
same bowler. Pressure was beginning to tell and it was Storey
(30) who succumbed, clean bowled by Amedee playing a dreadful shot.
It was now up to the old campaigners Steve Victory and Paul Johnson
to steady the ship. As the run rate edged above a run a ball these
two showed their experience, picking up ones and twos. Victory went
with four overs left and 20 runs still required. Enter Ryan
Combrinck. The big fast bowler strode to the middle with his chest
out whilst no doubt thinking "We could win this game by taking the
many singles on offer". That thought must have left his mind as he
received his first ball though, as he smashed it over long off for
6! Johnson came down to offer Ryano some pearls of wisdom, and it
must have been to continue smashing the ball to all parts. The North
London captain made life easier for Combrinck by taking off the leg
spinner and replacing him with the erratic Scantlebury. The
Twickenham number nine helped himself to two boundaries to take the
score up to 180. He then won the game by planting a big fat 6 onto
the pavilion roof! There was much relief amongst the Twickenham
players as they celebrated their first win of the season.
Although the run chase could have been handled a little more
efficiently there were definite improvements in this performance. If
the side continues to stick together and play as a team there will
certainly be many more wins to come. |
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