The U13Bs have had a rollercoaster 2025. That was epitomised in their game against Hampton Wick Royal on 8 July (see here for the card). Win and the Division Three title would belong to them. Lose, and it would be out of their hands and an anxious wait to see whether Hampton Hill B would beat Teddington B and pip them to the post would ensue. The latter it ended up being...

Wobbly start, much better finish for Twickenham with the ball
The Royal took first hit and they ended up putting 144 on the board.

The opening bats were the undoubted stars of the Hampton Wick batting show. Both Teddy Abell (40no off 30 balls) and Zach Smith (40no off 29 balls) batted impressively, and they were excellent value for the 80 they scored between them.

Once they'd gone, however, things got a little easier for the Ts. Thomas Tiltman (1-8 off 2) gave little away, Evan Davies (1-15 off 3) also did his bit to throttle the scoring rate. Arran Taylor and Jack Burston also ended up with wickets next to their names as Hampton Wick closed on 144.

Tiltman gives it his all
Could the Ts chase the target down and with it win the Div 3 title? The answer looked like a yes, then a no, then a yes again, but they eventually closed six runs short.

Panayiotis Chronias (13 off 15) and skipper Jack Burston (20 off 35) certainly started off positively. Two wickets for Arthur Brinded and two more for Tom Abell nonetheless threw a great big spanner in the works.

Thomas Tiltman didn't let that put him off. He went for it, boshing 31 off just 19. That put the Ts very much in the hunt. Tiltman, however, perished with the score on 117 and from then in on Twickenham battled gamely but never quite got the momentum back into the innings.

The U13Bs are, however, not resigned to their fate yet. Hampton Hill are nine points behind them (see here) and they now need to beat Teddington B on Thursday 10 July to eek ahead in the final ladder. We can, for now at least, still live in hope.