MTSSC  – 256 for 9 after 50 overs (Denzil – 74; Sahi – 62; Burman – 4 for 48; Payne – 2 for 52)  

Twickenham – 176 for 9 after 42 overs (S.Nazir – 51; H.Kriess – 34; Denzil – 5 for 37)

Twickenham’s 4^th XI started off their second round of league games with a disappointing losing draw at home against MTSSC’s 4^th string. On a blistering, scorcher of a hot day, stand-in tosser Phil Walker (as skipper Kriess, back from WC watching duty, was running late due to work commitments) lost the toss and the MTSSC skipper Sivasurathan had no hesitation to bat first. Sensible option in this heat and of course various drinks breaks were quickly agreed upon.

Burman, also back from WC watching duty – but of a different kind, opened proceedings from the Road End for the Ts. Sourav’s watching duties were however vastly different to the one skipper Kriess encountered. While Kriess enjoyed the thrashing dished out by the Germans in the comfort of his home in Teddington, Sourav enjoyed it live at the beautiful Green Point Stadium in the city of Cape Town, home town to skipper Kriess. All I can say is, it must certainly pay to be in marketing!! J

Shrikanth, returning from duties in Birmingham (duties are not known), opened from the River End.   It was a slow start to the game due to the heat and both bowlers were struggling with line and length. Shri in particular couldn’t get going at all and was soon replaced by Richie “the house of” Payne. Richie started well with 2 superb maidens, which put some pressure on the opposition. This pressure ensured the first wicket of the day. MTSSC not scoring any runs tried to steal a quick single, but Walker’s quick reaction got the ball back in no-time to bowler Burman who kindly took the bails off to send No.2 Frank packing.

This sparked a tumbling session of wickets for the Ts. Payne claimed 2 scalps, one bowled (No.3 Thusy) and the other (No.4 Lingam) well caught behind by Wilf. Young Sharma, replacing Burman, bowled with bilstering pace and movement and got the other opener Ashok, removing his middle stump.  After a short stint of “smash and run” by No.6 Rejevo, off-spinner Nazir  - making his debut in the 4s for the Ts -  trapped him LBW with his second ball of his spell. The Ts were firmly on top at this stage with 5 wickets down and the total under 150.

However, this changed dramatically! No.5 Denzil and No.7 Sahi consolidated and together started putting the runs on the board for MTSSC. Both played their shots, some well placed and elegant, others just simply smashed with the hope of finding the boundary. Add to that the heat and the tiredness of the Ts outfit, anything finding the gap on this dry desert of a field called Broom Road would usually roll off to the boundary in no time at all.

Chetan Ubale replaced a very tired looking Payne, who again returned excellent figures of 14-4-52-2. Ubale bowled well, varying his pace and length and was very close to a breakthrough. Unfortunately Donners dropped a skier when No.7 Sahi lofted his shot towards the mid-wicket area. Donners somehow never managed to really get under it, possibly losing sight of it through the sun and eventually to the disappointed of all bar the oppo the ball hit the dry ground.

The batsmen were well set at this stage and eventually Kriess through the ball back to a very frustrated, angry and ready to pick a fight Sourav Burman. He bowled, with a lot of aggression (if you want to know why feel free to ask him the next time you see him down the club) and eventually managed to break the now most likely of match winning partnerships. Sahi was bowled and departed with his score on 62. In his following over Burman trapped  No.5 Denzil  LBW for 74 but by now the score had reached the 200 plus. Burman took a further wicket in No.10 Bavan, caught well by our young Indian Sharma and the Ts did well to restrict MTSSC in the end to 256 for 9 of their allotted 50 overs. Burman ended with figures of 14-3-48-4.

After the Tea interval, the 4s knew the task at hand looking at a possible 6 runs per over to chase it down or just over 5 for the winning draw.  On a Broom Road track like this and with the dry outfield look anything but an outfield, the Ts were confident to chase it down. To the middle strode Donelan and Hussain, who have both been in form with the bat. Unfortunately Hussain creamed one straight back to the bowler in the 2^nd over and was sent packing caught and bowled. Skipper Kriess joined Donners at the crease and both settled the early jitters and managed to keep the run rate on par with the target.

Kriess especially found the boundary at regular intervals and Donners proded along with the 1s and 2s. Just as the Ts were looking comfortable, Kriess played a shot in the air with venom straight to the midwicket fielder. At first it looked like Kriess had survived as the fielder seemed to make a mess of things, but he soon somehow held on to the ball and disappointingly the skipper walked back to the pavilion on 34 and the total on 61. Debutant Nazir stepped up and did not disappoint. He started blistering balls to the boundary and it seemed like order had been restored. However, eventually Donners departed, bowled through the gap for 31 by a thorn-in-the-Ts-side Denzil and his ropey slow bowling. And this eventually is where the Ts crumbled and wickets started to fall at regular intervals.

Ubale didn’t last long, also bowled by Denzil. Young Sharma looked good but was unfortunate to hit is beautiful cut shot straight down gully’s throat. Surprisingly the gully held on as the ball did fly at a rate of knots (again a difference in the field where things went MTSSC’s way and didn’t much go the Ts way). Nazir (51) mistimed his shot straight to mid-on, also of the bowling of Denzil. Shri lasted for a while, making 15 but he gifted his wicket attempting a reverse sweep or whatever you would call that shot and was also bowled by Denzil. Burman came, smashed a four and went – bowled Denzil. Walker was hit his straight drive to the fielder and so it was left to stalwarts Wilf and House of Payne Richie to bat out the remaining 7 or so overs for the losing draw with the Ts total on 179. And they did so with style!

In the end the Ts held on for the losing draw but it could’ve and have should’ve been so much better. All in all, it was a very frustrating poor day for the Ts. Never mind the unsporting like conduct of the opposition and the sweltering heat and ridiculous dry outfield. Our fielding was disappointing and the batting collapse was rather poor, especially with a number of wickets thrown away with due poor shot selection. But hopefully this can be rectified against top-of-the-table Acton next week.

Holger Kriess , 4^th XI skipper