Twickenham marched on to the 2nd round of the
Shepherd Neame sponsored Middlesex 20/20 competition with an
impressive victory at Premier League neighbours Teddington.
Skipper Justin Scriven elected to bowl first on
a greasy track, affected by the rainy conditions of the day. It
looked a good move, as two early wickets fell to the T's skipper,
who was extracting good pace, despite coming in off a shortened
run. And when he threw down Keightly's middle stump, to extract a
run out off his own bowling, Teddington were in a spot of bother
with barely twenty on the board. There then followed a period of
consolidation for the hosts, as Hill in particular, moved the
score along steadily, punishing anything short from the T's change
bowlers. An excellent spell of bowling from Carlos Nunes,2 for
11,kept them at bay. But with 5 overs to go, Teddington were well
set to push past 150,with Hill still there on 50.Enter old
warhorse Paul Johnson, who bowled the dangerous Hill with his
first ball, and together with the returning Scriven, pegged back
Teddington to an under par 131 for 8 off their allotted overs. An
excellent effort by the T's, with Scriven outstanding,4 for
8.Backed up well by Johnson,2/19.And some excellent fielding.
Warwick Paull and Carlos Nunes strode to the
crease, and were met with some hostile fast bowling from Wood.
Both survived though, in their own way. Paull with tight
technique, and looking to work the singles, and Nunes,
well....,decided to smash everything out of the ground!
One six, in particular, was outrageous, as he
smashed Wood over wide long on. But the young paceman had the last
word, as he removed Nunes' off stump for a crowd pleasing 26.
There then saw a shaky period for Twickenham, as
partner after partner failed to support Paull. Mark Ryan, Justin
Scriven, Srinjoy De and Alex Storey all went cheaply. And when
Simon Hawley was somewhat harshly adjudged LBW, T's were in a spot
of bother. But the classy Paull continued stroked the ball around,
and a couple of trademark boundaries from JP Cronje, saw
Twickenham home, with Paull carrying his bat for a superb 53 not
out.
Another giant killing chance awaits in round
2,with a trip to another premier league outfit, Richmond.
