Twickenham cruise into Middlesex Cup second
round with a comfortable eight wicket win over Kenton
Kenton
187 all out (Schophn
Jooma 47, Mark Ryan 4-32)
Twickenham 188-2
(Grant Hughes 69, Tom Platts 51, Kaushal Patel 2-40)
Twickenham cruised into the second round of the
Middlesex Cup with a buccaneering eight wicket triumph over Kenton
on 8th June. The ever reliable
Schophan Jooma chipped in with 47 for Kenton, but the visitors’
total of 187 all out never looked particularly imposing on a flat
Twickenham Green deck. Openers Grant Hughes and
Tom Platts got the Ts off to a turbo-charged start, whilst nice
cameos from Nick Burgess and Al Storey saw the Ts cross the
finishing line with over 20 overs to spare.
Summer finally arrived on Twickenham Green on
Sunday 8th June. The sun shone, the
Bulmers was consumed and cricketers could finally take to the
outfield without their long-sleeved sweaters.
From a Twickenham perspective, all that was now needed was for
skipper Dan Hough to win the toss and for the Ts to have a bat.
Kenton’s skipper, David Sweeney, was, however, more than well
aware of the now copyrighted ‘Dan Hough Coin Theory’ so, seeing it
was a 50p, he called heads. Precisely – as anyone
who knows anything about these things is well aware – as you should
do. And he – obviously – won.
Kenton had a bat.
Any grumps and groans about losing the toss
clearly weren’t shared by the Ts opening bowlers who set about their
work with enthusiasm. Although Mike Vosloo
struggled a little to get the radar in exactly the right place, he
still managed to bowl opener Jonathan Mills without scoring.
Lachlan McKenna, on the other hand, slipped very nicely into
his groove, arcing the ball away sweetly towards the slips.
Nahoi and Patel played and missed frequently, and at times it
appeared like McKenna had them mesmerised.
The second wicket of the day nonetheless fell at
the other (
Schophn Jooma and Sweeney steadied the Kenton
ship somewhat, and slowly they took the score to within sight of the
century mark. Richie Saunders (1-32 off 6) made
way for Mark Ryan and despite conceding 9 off his first two balls,
Ryan soon began to change the face of the game.
Sweeney (20) nicked one behind to Bendelow, as did Patel (0) two
balls later. When Kerai (0) perished in exactly
the same fashion, it was clear that Kenton were wobbling big style.
The ever-positive Jooma nonetheless drove with gusto and he
took the score into the 150s. Another clatter of
wickets – the Ryan/Bendelow combination (yet) again coming to the
party to remove Jooma, whilst Grant Hughes’s flipper completely
outfoxed Growin (14) – and Kenton were again on the back foot.
Ryan (4-32 off 8) made way for Mike Vosloo at the Staines
Road End while Hughes (1-27 off 8) kept things tight enough from the
Hampton Road End. Vosloo (2-40 off 8) eventually
brought an end to the Kenton innings, as the obdurate Tapariya (23)
spooned a catch up to Dan Hough at mid wicket.
187 on Twickenham Green is rarely a formidable
total. Hence the Ts set to their task in
optimistic mood. By the time ten overs had passed
and Twickenham were 99-0 it became clear that this optimism was
anything other than mis-placed. Dan Hough and
Lachlan McKenna could barely contain their glee as they took charge
of the new electronic scoreboard. Hughes, fresh
from a duck the day before, was in no mood to show mercy on anyone.
He drove with customary freedom, and it wasn’t long before he
was plonking sixes over the cover boundary. A
further maximum followed as he hit a tree at wide long off roughly
half way up. His 50 (in 27 balls) was one of the
speediest seen on Twickenham Green for many a year.
Tom Platts, Hughes’s opening partner, was also in
no mood to hang about. He drove elegantly behind
square for three threes and was soon hitting Waghela over mid off
for a third second bounce four. Platts’s 50 (54
balls) indicated how well the former Midwhitgiftian has settled into
his first season with the Ts, and it was something of a surprise
when he holed out at long off to Patel (2-40 off 6) for 51.
Hughes quickly followed him back to the hutch (69 in 37
balls), but the Ts continued to cruise serenely towards their total.
Nick Burgess, another excellent find this season, looked
completely at home during his first knock on Twickenham Green, and
it wasn’t long before he was helping himself to boundaries at will.
Burgess’s 34no (35 balls) was a pleasure to behold.
Al Storey (11no), batting at four, accompanied Burgess
towards the finishing line and the Ts reached 188 with over 20 overs
to spare.
Given the first team’s horror show the day
before, it was good to get back to winning ways.
The performances of McKenna with the ball, and Hughes, Platts and
Burgess with the bat were the highlights although Matt Bendelow’s
five dismissals (one run out and four catches) also deserve special
mention. The Ts now take on