Parkfield and Headstone 205- 6     M.Dassani – 3-28

Twickenham 180- All Out- T.Sheikh 34, J.Porter 27

The T’s managed to pull out a second fixture with strong availability away in Hatch End against Parkfield and Headstone. The T’s side contained predominantly 4^th and 5^{th team} cricketers where as the opposition had a mixture of 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd team cricketers. Skipper Dassani won the toss and elected to field first.

In form Indian Taufeeq and Chetan Ubale opened the bowling. It was a mixed start with some very good wicket taking deliveries and a few short balls which were dispatched to the boundary. Despite the boundaries both bowlers were posing threat with constant lbw’s which were very close and on another day would’ve been given out. Eventually the breakthrough arrived and it was T.Sheikh to claim the wicket ironically an lbw was triggered by the umpire. It was a well deserved wicket for the Indian Sheikh. T.Powell departed on a well crafted 20.

However at the other end Saturday 1^st team star I.Schmitt raced his way to a very rapid 50. He played sensibly by respecting all the good deliveries and waited for the bad ones which he instantly pounced on. A few lbw appeals were mighty close but no one can take away credit from him!

Taufeeq completed his 8 over spell and Chetan took a blow after his 7^th over. Parkfield were on 70 odd. Despite the score Chetan and Taufeeq still bowled very well. Skipper then enforced two changes and introduced debutant M.Dassani( the cousin of Hinay and also senior!) and hot prospect Alex Fordham. Alex started of bowling short in his first over which gave away about 14 runs but fought back well afterwards. Mitesh bowled fairly consistent despite a few occasional wides.

The second wicket arrived and it was Mitesh who claimed the wicket of first team superstar Ian. He did not judge his shot correctly and was caught behind as Lawrence Brown showed safe pair of hands. It was a crucial wicket as he was looking to get his ton but was denied on 77.

Both Mitesh and Alex got their rhythm running and batsmen were not allowed any room to hit boundaries. Mitesh then got the second wicket of the game and clean bowled skipper Dilip with a sublime in swinging delivery. Shortly afterwards Alex joined the party with Mitesh and clean bowled F.Rallison for 16. A great spell for the T’s started to arise. The credit goes to Alex and Mitesh who worked very hard with the ball.

The next two bowling changes were enforced with H.Dassani and J.Gordon introduced to the attack. It was the same situation as the previous bowling spell with both bowlers keeping it tight with the occasional bad balls. Most runs were coming through singles and less boundaries. Chances were popping up but not enough to reach the fielders. There was a few drop catches with two coming from Taufeeq of Hinay’s bowling.

M.Dassani was introduced to the attack and he replaced JLS Gordon who had a brilliant performance and was very unlucky not to get a wicket. M.Dassani instantly made an impact as batsman M.Boxer looped the ball in the air which was comfortably taken by the safe pair of hands of Uzzi Khan. C.Ubale replaced H.Dassani who was also unlucky not to get a wicket but unfortunately senior Dassani showed him who the boss of the family was. Chetan also kept a tight over with one boundary coming off it.

The team spirit was good from the T’s and all the fielders worked hard. The encouragement and support for each other also played a significant role. Parkfield and Headstone ended the innings on 205- 6 off 40 overs which can be chased down as this track usually scores over 250. A few drop catches and close lbw’s may have been a lower total but nevertheless it was still a good total to chase down.

The second innings started with Uzzi and James Jimbo Porter opening the innings. Both started off sensibly and patiently. Both rotated the strike and getting themselves adjusted to the bowling style. It was a slow start but the opening bowlers Strucknell and Sodha were starting to get tired and both Uzzi and James gained advantage over that by pouncing on the bad balls. The T’s were rapidly scoring runs and out of nowhere James Porter started to hit the ball over the ground with some groovy cricketing style shots. Uzzi however defended the good balls, rotated the strike and dispatched all the bad deliveries.

The first wicket arrived in the 14^th over and the partnership was broken on 63 just after Hinay finished speaking to Paul Johnson on the phone hailing Uzzi and James partnership. It was James Porter to depart on a very well crafted 27. Sometimes village bowling with two bounces can be deceiving and that proved to be with James Porter. He was defiantly heading towards a quick fire half century. Lawrence Brown was the next in. Well done James top knock fella!

The second wicket shortly arrived and it was Uzzi Khan who gifted a caught and bowl to Strucknell. It was a good effort from Uzzi who hit 20. 4^th team all rounder Chetan Ubale was next at the crease. Both him and Lawrence started off well as they waiting for the bad balls and dispatched them all away. However Dilip Shah was bowling very consistently. As the skipper got worried he looked up to the services of first steam superstar Ian to get some quick wickets. Ian was bowling rapid line and length bowling which made the impact as Lawrence Brown out of frustration tried to pull him away but missed and was bowled on 11. It was a big wicket for P and H.

The wickets started tumbling as Ian got his second victim and it was another big wicket as Chetan Ubale was triggered by JLS on 10. With a collapse starting to arise Shibu entered the scene with Stephan Cowley. Ian captured his next wicket and Stephan Cowley did exactly what playboy Lawrence did and departed on 4.

Shibu and Taufeeq managed to settle themselves positively as that lead to Taufeeq Smashing the ball over Hatch End. Shibu rotated the strike who was looking more confident with the bat. The next wicket arrived and it was Shibu who was caught at point with a attempted cut shot which looped up. He departed on 7. Credit goes to Shibu as he supported Taufeeq well and stayed in for a long time at the crease.

JLS Gordon joined Taufeeq. JLS instantly joined the action and hit some very clean shots to the boundaries. He rotated the strike with Taufeeq. Taufeeq blasted a few more crisp shots the boundary before departing on a rock and rolling 34.  Alex Fordham fancied a bit of action and he made an instant impact. Him and Joe Gordon worked the ball around and managed to get a few boundaries. Both future talents ran maturely between the wickets getting as many runs possible to edge closer to the winning total.

P and H were edging closer to victory as 16 year old Alex did not time his shot accordingly to plan and Dilip Shah caught and bowled him on a quick fire 11. Alex was unlucky as he steered Twickenham back into the game. It was a great effort from the young rapper from Richmond.

Hinay Dassani was next in and probably the last resource in the batting locker alongside JLS aka Lucas Johnson. Further boost arrived for P and H and set for victory as JLS tried to slog D.Shah out of the park but got clean bowled. It was a brave and courageous knock from the young Lucas Johnson as he departed on a promising total of 18.

As Parkfield were on the verge of victory there was still one more twist as comedian brothers Mitesh and Hinay were at the crease. Even the opposition could not help but laugh when Mitesh arrived at the crease with his village white tracksuits on. The T’s were watching anxiously to see how many deliveries he survives. With first teamer Ian warming up Mitesh had no idea how many deliveries were left and on the last ball Hinay shouted RUUUUUUUUUUUUUN and at the same he also shouted YOUR FACING IAN SON!

Mitesh instantly felt the shivers down his spine as Ian had a smile on his face and ran to the crease so he can get his revenge from the previous innings. First ball of the last over of the innings was a 70 mph yorker as Mitesh moved out the way and got cleaned bowled! Parkside concluded the day with a 25 run victory and what a fantastic day of cricket we all encountered. Smiles and banter all round is what Sunday cricket is all about.

Overall I would like to say it was a fantastic effort from the T’s. Take out Ian and possible a few close LBW shouts we definitely would have saw this game home. It shows they respected us and knew we were cruising to victory. Despite the collapse we still kept our heads up and never gave up. The bowling performance and fielding display was tremendous. The young colts that participated in the game all played with the right attitude, enthusiasm and body language which shows the promising talent TCC is bringing forward. The team did the club proud even though it was a friendly and thank you Dilip and his troops for hosting a fantastic game of cricket! 

Jonno Cockney Column:  I telll ya what that Inay is the most orrendous Asian I ave ever met. E blaady tries to be a ero and decides to go Atch end with his and Olgers 4^th tame players. They still lose which shows ow much of a monks they made themselves look. You naa what I avent got time for this on a Sundieee. Actually before I Lave ow did that James Pow’ter get 27. Last time I blaady saw im bat e looked drunk and couldn’t old is bat. I bet that Inay got appy and will stick im in his monk 5^th tame alongside that Gilbert and Crouchayy in tha batting owdaaa. Ow did that Inay’s brother, cousin, uncle or however blaady way these Indians relate themselves get 3 wickets??? Well at lasteeee e can get 3 wickets Inay can’t even get 1. Just the odd inside edge that its the wikit. To end this I would like to say ABSOULTLY ORRENDOUS!