Twickenham – 246 for 9 after 50 overs (R.Saunders
– 59; K.Rand – 39; H.Kriess – 34)
Brondesbury – 95 all out after 38 overs
(Peacock – 30; S.Burman – 5 for 31)
Twickenham’s 4th string had a convincing victory on Saturday against Brondesbury’s 4s, continuing their march up the 2nd Division table. It was a sterling performance all round, with the Ts defending a big total of 246, which was reached thanks to contributions off the bat coming from Richie Saunders, Karl Rand and the skipper Kriess. In the field the stand out performance came from Sourav Burman taking 5 for 31, having great support from Richie Payne 2 for 27 and Chetan Ubale 2 for 8.
The game commenced somewhat late, due to the Brondesbury 11 only arriving just before 2pm. The toss was quickly taken and lost (again) with skipper Savage electing to have a bowl. Padding up for the Ts were the lanky giraffe Donelan and the Old Bill Richie Saunders. Both looked comfortable at the start and certainly did not waste any time in getting the runs on the board. Donelan in particular looked fresh and very strangely managed to find the gap between the mid-off and extra cover fielder. He however soon edged one behind of the bowling of Savage to depart on 14. In stepped skipper Kriess, who took his time to get off the mark as always. Him and Richie Saunders however never seemed too troubled with the bowling and slowly started to get going. Both found the gaps with relative ease and put the Brondesbury fielders to the test with quick singles, hitting the bad balls to the boundary when needed.
With the score having moved to 86, skipper Kriess edged behind off the bowling of Peet to depart for 34. Phil Walker replaced him, he however soon departed given out LBW for 9. Nihal Tomar struggled and saw his middle stump tumble with his score on 4. Chetan Ubale looked bashful as always and starting hitting boundaries for fun. Once Richie Saunders had been caught in the covers for a very well played 59, Karl Rand had joined Chetan at the crease with the score on 151 for 5 after 35 overs. The pair put on a 63 run partnership, playing some lovely shots all round the ground, in particular favouring the far square leg boundary. Chetan departed, caught in the covers, for 31 and Wilf unfortunately followed soon thereafter, playing on with his score on 39. Richie Payne has no innings to talk about but Matt Freeman and Sourav Burman saw the overs out and making full use in smashing no more than 4 boundaries in the last 2 overs to leave Brondesbury needing 247 for victory in their possible 42 overs plus.
Tea time was shortened to only 20 minutes, due to the lateness of affairs. Our thanks go to Ying, whose delightful array of choices, in particular the sushi, went down a treat indeed.
All sushied up and tea’d out, the Ts made their way onto the field to defend their competitive total and hopefully come walking off with 10 points in the bag. Richie Payne and Sourav Burman took the new ball, and although Payne’s first over was a bit off the mark, both bowlers got into their stride and made the batsmen work. Opener Halbrit looked very much the danger man hitting anything short or on the leg side to the boundary. His opening partner Hanth however just tried to stay in but he was soon dispatched by Payne, who dislodged his middle stump. And once Halbrit had smashed one high up in the air, to be well caught by the ever reliant Phil Walker at short mid-wicket, the Ts certainly could smell victory and continued to exert the pressure.
Behind the stumps, Wilf was certainly his usually chirpy shouting self and encouraged all to change ends quickly in order to get as many overs in as possible before the last twenty were to be called at 7.15pm. Burman soon followed in the act when he got Quereshi to edge one to first slip. Matt Freeman duly obliged with a sublime catch, diving to his right and holding onto the ball inches from the ground. The batsman however swore it came off his pads....mmmmh not sure about that one!
Burman soon got his second, bowling No.4 Parkinson and his third in the same manor the following over. In stepped the skipper Savage....and should I say out stepped the skipper Savage. He was barely in before his was barely out. Burman was credited his fourth wicket mainly thanks to the ever-so-quick reaction of keeper Wilf. Wilf had reacted quickly seeing Savage have his foot up and out the crease and managed to get Brondesbury’s skipper stumped off his first delivery. It was really an amazing piece of individual skill and awareness and this certainly spurned the Ts onto victory. Sadly the hat-trick ball went down the leg side.
In stepped the young pair of Peacock and Elkins. Both played very sensibly and certainly put a stranglehold on the Ts victory and it looked for a period that the Ts were go to have to settle for a winning draw as the overs started to run out. Skipper Kriess and Keeper Wilf rotated the bowling giving Shrikanth (7-1-17-0), Donelan (3-1-3-0) and Saunders (5-3-3-1) an opportunity to break the partnership. It was however Burman who eventually broke the partnership and claim his five for, trapping Elkins LBW. Saunders got the No.9 bowling him through the gap.
As overs were running out, one final throw of the dice was needed to claim victory. Skipper Kriess threw the ball to Chetan and hoped he could indeed get the final 2 wickets. Chetan obliged, thanks also in part to Wilf behind the stumps. No. 10 Shah had stepped out his crease and Wilf had again dislodged the bails in no-time. No. 11 Maniar lasted a few balls but I think that in the end he succumbed to the chirping of Richie Saunders. Maniar was trapped LBW by Ubale with Brondesbury all out for 95.
It was an excellent game for the Ts, who were very spirited throughout supporting each other in the field, backing up and thanks to the vociferous Wilf, always believing that victory was in their hands. It was indeed a very satisfying win and 10 points that everyone will cherish for the rest of the season. Next week, the Ts are away to local neighbours Teddington, so let’s hope the charge continues.