Good day at the office for the Ts - Saturday Review, Week 15

Excellent day at the office
Week 15 proved a big week for Twickenham CC. The top four sides in the club all won, and with a fair wind both the 1s and the 3s could theoretically be promoted next week. The 2s will have to wait a bit longer on that one, but they nonetheless sit top of the tree in Division 2 of the 2nd XI league after a great win against Southgate. The 4s chased down 100 to register 10 points, whilst the 5ths fell 30 runs short in a valiant chase against Acton IVs. Their upward curve in terms of good performances nonetheless continues.

Captain Marvel helps himself to six wickets
The firsts have gone from fourth just a few short weeks ago to second place and, crucially, 19 points ahead of third placed Enfield (see here for the table). A win next week against Barnes and, if results go the Ts' way elsewhere, the ones will be back playing premier league cricket in 2018.

Saturday's performance against Osterley (see the card here) looks pretty straightforward on paper, but when the pressure is on things can still go wrong. Carlos Nunes certainly had no intention of letting that happen, flinging the gloves back to Rhys Davies this week and having a bit of a dobble with the ball himself. 6-31 off little more than 6 overs says it wasn't a bad call.

With Tom Grundy and Gurjit Sandhu helping themselves to a wicket each, the Ts' battery of spinners hardly got a look in. Indeed, Twickenham only bowled two overs of spin all innings, although that was still enough time for Clint McCabe to join the wicket-taking party. Not massively surprising, it'd be unlike McCabe to dodge a party if there were one about.

Small chases can still be awkward, and Kamran Toor going first ball did little to calm the nerves. But, Rhys Davies, a man in pretty decent nick, came in at three and quickly stamped his authority on proceedings. His 56no (66 balls) and 20no from Darshan Chohan (26 balls) saw the visitors home with plenty to spare.

Twos hit the top
The Twos have also shaken themselves well and truly out of their mid-season slumber, and Saturday's 4 wicket victory against promotion rivals Southgate will do much to convince any doubters that they mean business (see here for the card). As things stand, Eugene Berger's men are one point clear of Shay Boo at the top of the tree (see here).

A Southgate side packed with experience posted a competitive 235 on the Green, the wily campaigner Jamie Jouning contributing 89 of those. Pete Darby was the chief destroyer, sweeping away the tail and claiming a well-deserved 4-31. Darby has had his ups and down this season, but it looks very much as if he is back approaching his best. Good to see.

The 2nd XI appears to have more spinners at their disposal than West Indies cricket had for an entire generation through the 1970s and 1980s and, sure enough, they chipped away at the Southgate line up; Tom Field, Eugene Berger and Nakul Vishvanath all picked up a wicket each, whilst Darshit Mashar contributed four overs at the death. Good work all round.

The in-form Arjun Rehncy again got the Ts off to a good start, although he'll be kicking himself that he didn't manage to go really big. His 53 (off 58) was nonetheless a platform for the Ts' middle order to show what it was made of. And, indeed, it was a team effort in chasing the total down, Nikhil Nomula added 48 (in 56 balls), Eugene Berger 41 (in 43) and crucially Dan Taylor 51no (in 61). The Ts got home with 14 balls to spare.

Threes bring home the bacon
The threes are now officially cooking on gas. A trip to bottom of the table Kenton nonetheless had classic banana skin potential and skipper Steve Watts was taking nothing for granted. "We've won some big games this year" he told Sky Sports on the morning of the game "but we've also lost some really bad ones. You nonetheless learn more about your players in defeat than in victory and it's the way that we've bounced back that's impressed me most".

Kenton are, of course, in a different sort of battle. They are fighting for their MCCL lives at the bottom of the table. They subsequently dug in and battled their way to 166. Tight bowling across the board meant that the wickets were shared nicely around.

In return, Mohit Mashar and Steve Cowley continued their fine work of previous weeks, putting the Ts very much in the box seat with another excellent opening stand. Cowley eventually departed for 45, Mashar, however, did the openers of yesteryear proud, digging in, leaving with aplomb and plonking that front front miles down the track. Nothing was getting through. He was majestically not out at the end. The openers' union purred in tribute.

All this means not only that the threes are currently joint top, but if they beat Ealing next week and Shepherd's Bush slip up then Steve Watts' merry men will be promoted.

Nice and easy does it for the 4s
The biggest challenge Hinay Dassani faced in week 15 was how on to earth to deploy all of the bowing resources at his disposal. "We've been bowling well of late and I could have opened up with any two from four" he explained to ESPN sport after the game. Come what may, his bowlers didn't let him down as Ally Pally 3s were removed for 101.

Mehran Iqbal was again very much on the money, helping himself to 3-28 off 10. JP Bowman also bowled tightly, chipping in with 3-22 off 8. Add in a couple of wickets for Kranthi as well as one each for Shreeraj Chauhan and Robbie Bosier, and Dassani had much to be pleased about.

Chasing small totals has not always been the 4s' forte, but a solid opening partnership of 45 between Uzzi Khan and Colin Blunden did much to settle any nerves. Blunden's 24 was the innings' top score, but solid contributions from Nihal Tomar and Mehran Iqbal at the end saw the Ts safely home. Rumours of a magnificent Tomar catch diving across in front of first slip are also doing the rounds ...

Silver Medal for 5s
The 5s again found themselves facing good quality opposition, this time in the form of 2nd placed Acton. Acton had first hit, amassing a respectable 209. Vijay Sanas was the pick of the Twickenham bowlers with 4 wickets, whilst Paramdeep Saini helped himself to three. Whether the ladies' lacrosse match on the neighbouring pitch was putting off some of the Ts fielders is an issue we can be sure will be discussed in the forthcoming match report, but James Foster certainly kept his eye on proceedings, nabbing two good catches.

The 5s haven't been able to successfully chase 200 yet this season, but that didn't stop them giving it a good go here. Lots of players managed to get starts, but no one was able to go on and make that crucial big score. The Ts subsequently fell 30 runs short on 179 a/o

Chairman, beware ...
Week 15 was the closest the club has yet come to taking advantage of the Chairman's largesse. As Jon Varney has been keen to let everyone know, if all five TCC sides win on the same day then beer in the pavilion is on him for the rest of that Saturday evening. The Chairman's money might be safe for now, but with the top four sides in the club flying *and* the 5s playing the bottom three sides over the next three weeks that could change. C'mon Phil and the 5s, your time has now come!