Three of the four Twickenham sides in action on Saturday 23 August came home with 10 points. The 3rd XI found 271 just too many to chase down against Wycombe House, the twos had a decent bye week; results went their way and they could be mathematically up next week.

The bare facts as laid out above do not, however, tell anything like the full story. The ones and the fives ended up in thrilling contests that went right down to the wire. And, both managed to come out on top.

Angus Parker keeps his powder try until it really matters
The ones knew that a win at Acton would all but eliminate their hosts from the promotion race. But, that was clearly not going to be an easy task; Acton had performed strongly through mid-season and had unceremoniously dumped the Ts out of the Middlesex Cup last week. No pushovers there.

Acton batted first and put 251 on the board (see here for the card). At 13-2 Acton were initially on the back foot, but former Twickenham player Radha Marripati (71 off 66) got them up and running.

Solid batting lower down from Noah Harvey (a run-a-ball 47) further moved things along as the Acton tail wagged nicely. Angus Parker (3-60) and Akash Multani (2-40) caught the eye for the Ts.

Still, at 144-2 Twickenham looked like they were in cruise control mode. Pat Dixon (68 off 79) moved elegantly along, Donny Manuwelge (97 off 102) was easy on the eye.

Cricket, however, does have a habit of making what seems a formality become rather more tricky than it might otherwise appear. The dismissal of both of those batters certainly set Twickenham back, although at 245-5 it still looked like the game was Twickenham's to lose.

And, lose they nearly did. With 12 balls left the Ts needed five to win with four wickets in hand. They scrambled just the two off Shoaib Arif's over, and Akash Multani departed along the way. Still, three needed off the last over with wickets in hand seemed very dooable. A single off the first ball should have calmed the nerves but then both Gurjit Sandhu and Adam Mather were run out. Alarm bells ringing.

It all eventually came down to the very last ball. Fast bowler Angus Parker took guard knowing that two were needed for a win and one for a tie. He took a deep breath, swung the bat and the ball sped over mid off and into the fence for four. The Ts were home, but only by the skin of their teeth.

The win means that the Ts can secure both promotion and indeed the title if they beat Indian Gym on the Green next week (see here for the table). Excellent stuff.

Threes come off second best on the Green
The twos weren't in action in Week 16, but they'll be happy enough with how results in their division went. Most pressingly Stanmore beat Eastcote by 74 runs. That means that if the twos win in the Shepherd's Cot against North London next week then they will be playing Premier Division cricket next season (see here for the table).

The threes, meanwhile, didn't have quite such a good day, although they will be pleased enough that they are able to go into the final two weeks and not have to worry about relegation.

Anjam Hussain scored an impressive 85 (90 balls) for Wycombe House 3s on the Green as they posted 271. Skipper Robbie Bosier (4-71) did all he could to stem the flow, Nishan Singh and Praween Siriwardena also picked up wickets (see here for the card).

In reply, the ever-reliable Ollie George opened up with 44 before being run out by the hugely experienced Zahid Ahmed. Indeed, Ahmed helped himself to three wickets as the Ts were put under strain. Nishan Singh hit a brisk 39 (off 24 balls) and Anush Ganesh entertained at the end, but, it was not meant to be. The 3s closed on 195.

Promotion does remain mathematically possible for the 3s (see here for the table), but being realistic that may be a bridge too far. Relegation, however, remains a mathematical impossibility. After the tough 2024 that the threes had that's got to be good.

Mehran Iqbal running riot for the 4s
The fours are building up to a last day crescendo. In Week 18 they'll meet Ealing Trailfinders in a winner-takes-all promotion clash (see here for the table).

Before that, however, work had to be done elsewhere. Ten points against Brentham 4s were vital. Andy Donelan stepped up impressively to ensure that the Ts put some runs on the board. His 80 ball 85 was central to the Ts posting 189. Vinay Khetia's 5-13 did plenty to make sure Twickenham didn't pile on too many more.

189, however, looked a million miles away when the Ts started bowling. Shah Bozdar opened the bowling and claimed an impressive 3-16 off 8, whilst the indomitable Mehran Iqbal took 7-19 - that'd be five wicket haul number 17 for Mehran in Twickenham colours then - from the other end. The pair of them swept Brentham away for 37 (see here for the card).

5s get there. In the end.....
The fifths are fighting for their lives at the bottom of Div 5B. They knew that that if they were going to retain any hope of staying in the same division in 2026, then a win against mid-table Wycombe House 4s would be vital.

An entertaining double-booking issue took a while to sort out at the beginning, whilst a play cricket scoring meltdown ten overs in also delayed things further. It did feel at one point like the two sides would end up needing to play in the dark in order to finish the game.

Thankfully, that wasn't needed. Puneet Sahota bowled an impressive 11 over spell that yielded 6-43 (see here for the card). He was ably backed up by Thomas Hopkins (2-28). By the time Sourav Salgotra neatly ran out the House number 11 the hosts were on 122. 123 it was to win then.

Whilst Paul McLoughlin and Salgotra were at the crease it looked like Twickenham were gently cruising to victory. McLoughlin took his time, eeking out runs as and when they were there to be had. Salgotra (21 off 50) did much the same, intermingling neat drives with some quick singles.

The impressive Ojhas Dahiya removed Salgotra with the score on 42, although that just allowed Sean Daly - a man who'd had an impressive day behind the stumps - to come in and carry on in the same vein. At 61-1 the Ts were looking good.

Then, however, an attack of the batting collywobbles seemed to strike. Ram Kapoor (4-15) started picking up wickets as the Ts' middle order started to feel the pressure. Skipper Job Bosier looked in good nick, but he fizzed one straight to deep mid off. The Ts needed a partnership to hold things together.

Evergreen Dan Hough, batting at four, kept the ship afloat, although Adam Tebb offered excellent assistance. Tebb kept out the straight ones and thumped one full ball gloriously through the off side for four. Tebb then clonked one of the battery of spinners on show over their own heads for three more. The Ts were eeking ever closer.

The returning Frankie Gow got the breakthrough Wycombe House desperately needed, dismissing Tebb, leaving the Ts needing 10 to win with two wickets in hand. Dan Hough drove the impressive Kabeer Khan for one four in an otherwise tight 42nd over, meaning the Ts were just six behind when Puneet Sahota next took strike.

He thumped a short ball over mid-wicket for four. But, just when you thought Twickenham had done enough further drama ensued. Sahota was flailed away and was caught behind, meaning Pete Burke had to stride out at 11 and get the job done. Gow opted to bowl Burke a first ball bouncer. Wrong choice. Not only did the bouncer drift down leg and subsequently be called wide, it also went past the despairing keeper and all the way to the boundary. The Ts were home and the great escape remains very much on.

So, all in all, an excellent's day's worth of cricket. Good work, one and all.