On Wednesday 6th May Twickenham made their first steps in the direction of regaining the Middlesex T20 trophy that they won in 2024 (see here for a reminder of how that happened). Barnes put up a decent flight, but Carlos Nunes's side ultimately came through with five wickets and 12 balls to spare (see here for the card).

Barnes post 161 off their 20
Jake Symes (56 off 45) was very much at the centre of Barnes's attempt to put a decent total on the board. Given that Lonsdale Road is short straight and that the wicket is generally good, north of 180 was felt to be par for the course. Symes certainly set Barnes up to think about getting somewhere close to that.

However, the rest of the batting didn't quite get into the groove; former Twickenham player, Angus McKenzie, wielded the willow for an enterprising 27no (off 22), but Michael Waugh (run out by Ollie White for 13) was the next top scorer.

Blake van der Linde, Twickenham's Sultan of Swing, was key to preventing the Barnes top order from getting going. He ended up with 3-27 from his four overs, Don Manuwelge (1-24) and Ollie White (1-27) also chipped in. Barnes ended on 161.

Talmage hits the ground running
In reply the Ts got off to something of a flier. Ross Tamalge (56 off 30) and Patrick Dixon (25 off 24) stormed along and by the time Kyle Hopper removed Tamalge the Ts were already on 86.

Dixon followed one run later, but White (17 off 11) and Don Manuwelge (38 off 27) took up the baton and ensured that Twickenham remained well ahead of the rate. Ethan Wright nonetheless decided he'd seen enough of Manuwelge, and so merrily ran him out with less than a dozen needed. Brutal.

Ollie Melville-Ross came in and hit his first ball for four, before Wright stepped up and drove magnificently through the ring to get the Ts over the line. Good stuff.

The next round of the T20 takes place on the Bank Holiday Monday at the end of May. Venue and opponents as yet unknown...