Week 6 of the MCCL season wasn’t one to remember for Twickenham CC. The only light on a dim horizon was once again the 4s; they emphatically beat Richmond to go 7 points clear at the top of Division 5a. Nitin Parab was the undoubted star of the show, scoring a classy century.

4s power on
The 4s remain a force of nature. Six games, six wins and a whopping 23 point gap to third place. To say that they are well-placed to secure promotion to Division 4 would be an under-statement.

This week they welcomed Richmond to Broom Road. The visitors batted first, putting 164 on the board. Skipper Hinay Dassani (4-40) and Mehran Iqbal (3-21) were the star performers with the ball.

In reply, Nitin Parab – newly promoted from the 5th XI – was the undoubted star of the show. Skipper Hinay Dassani described Parab’s unbeaten century as “one of the best I’ve ever seen at this level” and no one was disagreeing. He was well-supported by Uzzi Khan (19) and Colin Blunden (26).

The fours travel to South Hampstead next week; SH have only had one win in six, so the main task for Dassani will be to prevent complacency from setting in.

1s, 3s and 5s struggle
The story for the rest of the club was less positive. Runs were clearly hard to come by, but the Ts’ batters nonetheless didn’t do a great job of knuckling down and putting the hard yards in.

The ones were inserted on a tough track at Finchley and only reached 85 before they were all out (see here for the card). Scott Newman top scored with 22. Nir Shah (3-15 off 7) was the star with the ball. Ishi Singh Soni removed one of the Finchley openers and there was a run out, but that couldn’t prevent the hosts from getting home with plenty to spare.

The threes had a similar tale of woe to tell. 70 all out is never pretty, although had Robbie Bosier not managed 20 at the end then it would have been much worse. Former second XI skipper David Block (4-28 from 16 overs) led the way for Bron with the ball.

Steve Watts’s men may well have lost, but they did at least take a few Bron wickets with them. JP Bowman (3-17 off 9) was excellent, as was Ozzie Qavi (2-19 off 9). Anees Asghar (50no) was the difference between the sides and once he survived a close LBW shout he was able to see Bron home with five wickets to spare.

The 5s, fresh from a first win last week, also came off second best (see here for the card). 68 all out was a far cry from the batting successes of the previous weeks; only Jon Bosier (21) and Andy Donelan (10) managed double figures. But, like the 3s, they too fought all the way. Pete Burke (2-16 off 10) and particularly Zafar Ali (1-18 off 16!) gave nothing away, but, ultimately, the 5s just didn’t have enough on the board. The hosts squeaked home, but they needed 40 overs to get there.

2s escape with a losing draw
The 2s, meanwhile, had the worst of their encounter with Stanmore, but they did at least escape with a losing draw. Stanmore were previously five from five so the Ts are now at least the first side to take any points off them (see here for the card).

Stanmore struggled to 183 all out on the Green, Steve Mehra (43) and Sahil Vora doing the damage with the bat. Sam Cliffe (3-25) and stand-in skipper Nakul Vishvanath (2-31) were the stand out performers with the ball.

In reply Pushtak Arsikere (28) looked good, but the Ts regularly lost wickets and soon slipped behind the rate. However, when the rain came they were still at least out there batting and that ensured that they took something out of the game. In the great scheme of things that may end up representing a better than normal return for Stanmore’s opponents this year.

All in all week 6 was a bit of a car-wreck (4th XI aside). But, we re-group, we knuckle down and we go again in week 7.