Twickenham 3's recorded their first league win of the season in impressive style by beating league leaders Ealing at a glorious St Mary's.

With the sun shining,and the wicket hard,stand in skipper Paul Johnson had no hesitation in asking Ealing to bat first.

The visitors got off to a flying start as Kiernander in particular took the attack to bowlers from the off,flaying the ball to all parts.

Garth Borain bowled with good control,reguarly beating the outside edge,but Mark Smith and Richie Saunders struggled with their rhythms and were punished by Kiernander.

Tony Bendelow became the 2nd bowling change from the studios end after only the 12th over,and immediately stemmed the flow of runs.By this time Ealing had raced to 70,with Kiernander already passed 50.

The unlucky Borain was replaced by Chris Marshall,and he made a breakthrough straight away as Khurana mistimed a sweep and chipped the ball up in the air to be easily caught by keeper Jon Trippett.

As they say,1 brings 2,and in Marshalls next over he had Patel caught on the square leg boundary by Mark Smith.

When Bendelow had Kiernander adjudged LBW for 97,Twickenham sensed that a score around 200 could be possible.

A useful partnership between Mirza and R Singh,allowed Ealing to build on the foundations set though,as the T's toiled in the hot sun.

And despite 3 further wickets from 'metronome' Bendelow,2 of which were sharp stumpings by Trippett,and 1 for the returning Smith,a late flurry from G Gulshan(46*) allowed Ealing to declare bang on 50 overs on an imposing 270 for 7.

The pick of the bowlers was undoubtedly Tony Bendelow who bowled 19 unchanged overs recording figures of 4 for 90.

Twickenham's openers Ross Montgomery and Don Campbell strode to the wicket knowing that a good start was vital if the T's were going to have any chance of getting close to the score.

They were initially circumspect putting on 24 in the first 10 overs. Once the shine had gone off the ball,both players started to accelerate superbly with Montgomery playing shots all around the wicket,and the ageless Campbell working the ball into the gaps with tremendous skill.

As the score rocketed past 50 and then 100,the thoughts of winning really started to become a reality.

The excellent stand was finally broken on 141 when Montgomery, exhausted from his drinkathon in Birmingham,came down the wicket to 1 too many and was stumped for an excellent 76.

With 26 overs still remaining,skipper Johnson juggled his batting order,sending Mark Smith in at number 3 with license to hit ball!

Cameo's from him and Garth Borain kept the scoreboard rolling,and when Johnson strode to the crease just under 100 was needed.

The skipper immediately set about playing his shots,with the tiring Campbell ticking over from the other end.

When Campbell finally knicked behind for a superb 80,T's needed 56 more from 12 overs.

Richie Saunders joined Johnson,and initially found it difficult,but with plenty of time left,singles were enough.

Despite rotating their bowlers,Ealing were realising just how good a track it was,as boundaries were plucked off when needed.

This excellent partnership took the T's to the brink of victory,before Johnson,trying to hit the winning runs,holed out at cover for 47.

This left the honour to Jon Trippett,who duely did the business giving Twickenham a memorable win with over an over to spare,with Saunders finishing unbeaten on 14.

This was an excellent team effort,with everyone putting in 100% with bat,ball or in the field.

More of the same will be needed next week,as the T's travel to new leaders and neighbours Richmond.