Tense finish, but Bendelow sees Ts home

Harrow St Mary’s II                208 all out (Ryan Howard 78no, Anu Agarwal 5-50)

Twickenham II                      212-6 (A. Agarwal 51, M. Bendelow 50no, R. Brewin 40)

Twickenham’s second string got their season up and running with a 4 wicket triumph at Harrow St Mary’s on 15 May.  HSM’s Australian import, Ryan Howard, struck a powerful 78no, whilst Anu Agarwal was the star performer for the Ts with the ball, spinning his way to 5-50.  Agarwal was also at the heart of the visitors’ batting performance, adding his first half century for the club to his first five-for.  Agarwal’s departure saw the Ts still needing a tricky 93 off 18 overs to win, but an 88 run partnership between Matty Bendelow and Richie Brewin swung the game decisively Twickenham’s way, leaving Athar Khan to bludgeon the only two balls he faced to the boundary, securing the Ts all ten points.

After a disappointing opening weekend, the Ts looked to get their season back on track at the Old Millhillians’ Sports ground against potentially tricky opponents, Harrow St Mary’s.  Before horns could be locked, however, the Ts faced the challenge of getting everyone around the North Circular in good time on an FA Cup Final day.  The prompt 11h15 departure that skipper Dan Hough had planned didn’t quite happen, mainly as the front man of ‘Big Tackle’ (soon – namely 17^th July – to be performing at Twickenham CC), Stuy Amos, was running late.  His call to the skipper to explain this very nearly earned him the Hairy Hands of Shame there and then; “sorry skip, I am on the way, although I’m currently just in the process of getting up”.  The marks he received for honesty and originality just about saved him …

As and when the Ts did get going, all was still not quite plain sailing.  Tom Guy manfully struggled through a choc-a-bloc Hounslow to pick up Athar Khan, whilst Pete Burke’s SatNav developed a mind of its own, leading the Ts’ opening bowler off in to the back of beyond.  James Salmon’s journey up from Clapham was not much easier, Fish Cakes arriving just before the 1pm start time to take the Ts up to the regulation 11.

Unperturbed by the fact that half his team were struggling to find the ground, Dan Hough on winning the toss none the less decided to have a bowl.  Burke arrived just in the nick of time to take new ball with Khan, and immediately made an impact, bowling the dangerous looking Jaimit Patel for 8.  Both Patel and fellow opener Pras De Alwis looked in no trouble at all, playing straight and hitting hard, hence it was a real bonus when the HSM skipper followed his partner back to the pavilion – Athar Khan grabbing his first wicket of the campaign as he bowled De Alwis with a well disguised slower ball.

Number three Gunasekara’s approach was pretty straightforward; block the straight ones resolutely, whack everything else.  And whack it he could, Pete Burke coming in for a fair bit of rough treatment.  The wily old stager nonetheless had the last laugh in this particular dual, bowling Gunasekara for a muscular 35.  Keeper Richie Brewin also spilt claret in the process, the ball ricocheting off the stumps and in to his face; blood gushed everywhere, and it took a fair few minutes to get the Ts’ stopper patched up again. 

Although the run rate was decent, the Ts sensed an opportunity to take the game by the scruff of the neck.  Evergreen Ian Ridley was clearly not going to be the sharpest between the wickets, and Ryan Howard had started gingerly (including being sent back to the pavilion by the umpires to get a helmet; Pete Burke will argue that it was on account of the lightening pace he was generating, others may guess that it was perhaps because the Australian is only 17.  The reader can decide which of the stories is the more plausible!).  Indeed, Howard was soon offering up difficult chances through the slips (off Khan) and to mid off (off Burke), which James Salmon couldn’t quite hold on to. 

The dangerous Ridley slapped a few boundaries, but it was not too long before Khan removed him caught and bowled trying to hoik the ball over mid wicket for 25.  Ridley’s departure saw Ts spinner Anu Agarwal come in to this own; Agarwal caused all the batsmen that followed real problems, and his five wickets were thoroughly deserved.  Nicely flighted deliveries saw a couple of HSM batsmen beaten in the air and bowled, whilst Richie Brewin took a sharp stumping to remove another.  Number 10 Asantha De Alwis had a bit more staying power, and he hung around for a while.  Indeed, he was just becoming a real nuisance when he risked two to Tom Guy on the deep point boundary.  Kent’s finest fizzed the ball in to Brewin and De Alwis was subsequently run out without even having the chance to run his bat in.

Howard, meanwhile, had been gaining in confidence and batting with increasing authority.  His 50 was well deserved.  Ultimately, he was left high and dry on 78, with Agarwal claiming the final wicket of Nikeel Patel leg before for 4.  HSM’s 208 was, however, a decent total and the Ts knew that they’d have to bat well to get there.  The tea of a variety of salads, curries and sauces went down a treat, as the Ts contemplated how best to employ their ample batting to good effect.

Colin Blunden and Eddie Paxton took first hit, and both looked in reasonable control until Blunden edged behind to depart for 12.  Tom Guy joined Paxton and, much as they have done every time they’ve batted together this year, they complimented each other well.  Paxton played some delightful shots off his legs, whilst Guy pulled with gusto and drove with panache.  Guy’s blossoming knock was, however, cut short when he was adjudged leg before with the score on 37, and when Paxton clipped a full toss to mid wicket for 22 and James Salmon was removed leg before for 3 the Ts were beginning to rock a little.

Steady heads were required, and Anu Agarwal and Matt Bendelow provided them.  They saw off De Alwis, whose 17 overs yielded 2-54, and slowly began to be a little more adventurous.  Agarwal powerfully dispatched anything loose, and the onlooking Ts spectators knew that if he could bat for an hour or so then Twickenham would be home and hosed.  However, Agarwal lives by the sword and dies by the sword, and so it was that Patel nipped one past him to have him smartly stumped by Howard.

Enter the wounded warrior, Richie Brewin.  Armed with a big plaster on his chin, Brewin set to work in building a partnership with Bendelow.  Both looked confident, taking the twos when they were there and hitting bad balls hard.  Bendelow in particular looked composed and in control, and whilst he was there Twickenham looked – just – to be in control.  The required run rate hovered around the five an over mark, but neither batter panicked, safe in the knowledge that a couple of big overs would be enough.  Indeed, 11 came off one Nikheel Patel over and, crucially, 14 off the 51^st of the innings, bowled by Asantha De Alwis.  The Ts were all but there, although poor old Brewin was denied his red inker after being run out with just 5 needed.  Athar, having been bigged up as a sensible batter that’d take his time by his (evidently very misguided) skipper, didn’t waste any time in getting the job done; his first ball went to third man for four, his second blasted wide of mid off to see the visitors over the finishing line.

After the damp squib of a start against Wembley the previous week, it was a real relief to get back on the straight and narrow.  A number of batsmen made important contributions, whilst both Anu Agarwal and Athar Khan toiled manfully with the ball.  Next week sees the Ts return to Twickenham Green with a home game against newly promoted SKLP.