MTSCC 92- All Out H. Dassani 5-35, B. Thorne 4-22
Twickenham CC 95- 2 G. Sanchez 42, C. Banghu 20, K. Rand 15*
The sun was shining and the T’s were shining
along with it. Match 3 was against Middlesex Tamils at
The new ball was taken by T. Sheikh and H. Dassani. Despite more arrivals to come the Tamils could not have asked for a negative start as Dassani claimed a wicket on his very first delivery by bowling out Prenth for 0 and the second wicket was soon to follow as the Tamil’s skipper was out for a duck. This wicket will always be remembered in Twickenham CC history as it was a spectacular first slip catch from Ben Crouchy Aldworth. He just continues to pull out a new surprise week in and week out. The ball came at such substantial speed but Crouchy still made it look sweet and simple.
It took a while for the next wicket to come as Hari and opening bat Kumar started to set the platform for the Tamils by rotating the strike. Dassani continued to keep it tight as Taufeeq gave some very feisty deliveries but also some width which the batsmen took the opportunity to slice away. But it was Taufeeq to claim the third wicket of the game with a fantastic yorker length delivery which cleaned bowled Hari for 11. It was an important wicket as he gradually started to settle into the game.
The first bowling change came after a couple of overs and it was Sheikh to take a blow. Brian the Telephone Bill Thorne was introduced to the attack. BT who yet again is on fine form continued to add more pressure to the Tamils by not allowing them any sort of room to dispatch the ball.
The next wicket came and it was a very big wicket. It was the big Kumar to depart on 17 as Dassani claimed the wicket and yet again it was another surprise moment at first slip by the magician Crouchy. This catch was just simply an awesome catch because it came at speed and also low. That catch is definitely the catch of the season so far.
With the skipper adding wickets it was now BT to join the party with his first wicket of the game. It finally arrived as BT got unlucky previously and it was Taufeeq with safe pair of hands to claim it and obviously an Indian is not going to let the team down with a dropped catch. It was younger Shurbeth to depart and soon to follow was Ram. He hung in there for a while and left on 7. The wicket was very awkward as he came out and nicked the ball but Wilf behind stumped him. As the batsmen did not try to run it was classified as a stumping after a few referrals at the green. A very unusual moment that what only can occur with Twickenham.
The skipper was now seeking for a 5 wicket haul and it just seemed like it was never going to arrive as Hendo dropped a sitter at gully. This catch would have even been caught by Monty Panesar and my little niece. The skipper was planning to take himself off after that ball for Hendo himself but ironically skipper changed his mind. By the way Hendo if you read this I hope I don’t sound too harsh! Hendo did claim the ball was spinning in the air as an excuse.
Young batsmen Shobhan continued to give
catching practice off Dassani’s bowling and it was Gilbert and
Clive (the chuckle brothers) who were the next culprits in the
Monty Moments. To be fair to them the sun was very sharp on their
side which was a better excuse than Hendo’s although there was a
hilarious moment as Gilbert started to shout out I CANT SEE MAN
and stood there like the statue of
Anyway during that period more wickets did tumble and it was BT doing the business who claimed two wickets. One was a sublime clean bowled delivery, and the second was a great take from Wilf behind the stumps who was immense with his hard work in the baking conditions.
Shobhan this time now gave Gilbert another chance to take his second opportunity and Gilbert shouted MINE! But it was Clive Dancey who stole his moment of him from taking the catch sideways. Who knows he may have saved from Gilly from another embarrassment moment! That was definitely a chuckle brother moment. He departed on a valuable and lucky 17 after 7 lives. It was off Dassani’s bowling who claimed a very mysterious 5fer haul!
Number 11 Jegan came on and he was subsequently meant to be the opening bat. He actually arrived 10 minutes before he came onto bat. Jegan proved his ability by smashing a very quick 17 whilst Sam at the other end was just surviving at the other end by the skin of his teeth to allow Jegan hit the runs. It was BT who cleaned up the innings for the Tamils with another classy performance with the ball. A 4fer Haul for a very low telephone bill produced by BT and Tamils ended their innings on a 92- All Out.
The second innings started with Gilbert and Chris Pinghu Bhanghu. Richie Payne is responsible for the name Pinghu and I don’t know why but it sounds cool. With Gilbert looking to regain some form and Chris to continue his form they did what the captain said by setting the tone in positive style. It was a patient and solid start with both Gilly and Chris rotating the strike and running well between the wickets. Both never looked to throw their wickets away.
Once Gilly had settled into the game the fun started and the devil started to come out from inside. Gilly went gung-ho with some aggressive orthodox shots. Any bad balls bowled he was quick to pounce on them. The sunny Saturday afternoon was definitely feeling the 1950’s groove with the master Gilly shining away. Chris continued to play very sensibly in looking for singles and supporting Sanchez but also did not hesitate to dispatch a few fours to the boundary. Gilly continued to play some of his famous Mexican drives, pulls and cut shots. The first wicket came and it was Chris to depart on a well crafted 20. It was a very positive and sensible knock which set the platform to victory for the T’s. It was another fine display from the Bangers.
The fairytales and scripts continued to write away but for Gilbert the icing on the cake did not happen as he missed out on 50 with 8 runs short. It really would’ve made the headlines in Twickenham but nevertheless it was a very classy and sublime 42 and still deserves to be in the front and back pages of the news of the world. Definitely worth a half century but an attempted Holger style German hook shot which did not go accordingly to plan was caught at mid wicket by the Tamils Skipper Raji.
With the Tamils claiming two consolation
wickets it was now left to the magician B. Aldworth and Wilfy.
Crouchy played very sensibly who did what he normally does by
rotating the strike and defending the good balls whilst Wilf (I
want to be at the telly by 7.45) smashed the
ball away to the boundary with some feisty shots. Crouchy did
everything in his power to close the curtains by trying to be
Freddy Flintoff but it did not happen and the game was cemented by
Wilf with an exquisite cut shot to the boundary. It was a perfect
way to close the curtains.
Overall it was a great game. The opposition were a great bunch of lads and they all played with a smile on their face. Great attitude from them but as for our boys it was a sensational performance. There were plenty of good individual performances but everyone gave 100%. The team spirit was on a commendable again which played a crucial part. Things are looking good for the 5’s and we have to keep the momentum flowing but we cannot get carried away as Karma is always watching us! There were drop catches but it is not a common factor with our boys and hopefully it does not occur again because there is a simple term and that is CATCHES WIN MATCHES!
Skippers Top 5 Players
- Gilbert Sanchez- 5 player points
- Brian Thorne- 4 player
points
- Chris Bhanghu- 3 player points
- Karl Rand- 2 player points
- Ben Aldworth- 1 player point
Man of the Match- Gilbert Sanchez- very
well deserved.
Thanks for Coming Award- Hendo and Sanjay
cheers guys!
Jonty Award- Ben Aldworth with two awesome
catches at first slip. Those catches are definitely the catches of
the season so far in the 5’s and also the best slip catcher in
Monty Award- This will be very difficult
to decide. Plenty of hilarious moments but if Michael Jackson was
present he would definitely sing: don’t blame it on the sunshine,
don’t blame it on the moon light blame it on Hendo!