The twos and the fours brought home the bacon in week 15 of the MCCL whilst the ones came within a hair’s breadth of doing the same. The threes fought gamely in a losing cause whilst the fifth’s promotion challenge – if it ever actually existed – is now officially dead.

Ones lose by four runs
They do say that the low-scoring games are often the really dramatic ones and there was further evidence for that case at Twickenham Green on Saturday.

Finchley, struggling gamely in the relegation zone of the MCCL Premier Division, managed 132 on a tough day for batting. George Scott (33) and Majed Ali (29) were the mainstays of that with only two other visiting batters reaching double figures.

Carlos Nunes once again illustrated that messrs dibble and dobble can have big impacts on cricket games in England, helping himself to four wickets, three of which came leg before. Abhi Singh’s 3-30 was well-deserved, whilst Vedant Jain impressed on debut (1-38 off 10).

In reply the Ts wobbled to 25-3 and then 34-5 before Don Manuwelge and Nunes began steadying things up. But, their departures (for 25 and 27 respectively) saw Finchley grab the initiative as George Scott helped himself to an impressive 5-24 off 10. Ajmal Allahdad nonetheless did all he could to see the Ts over line but ultimately the Ts fell four short (see here for the card).

The table now makes interesting reading (see here). Finchley remain 9th, but they have closed the game on Stanmore and Twickenham to 16 points. Your money would be on Finchley going down, but Stanmore and Twickenham will be keen to get that one more win to secure their safety.

Twos win at Stanmore
The twos impressively brushed aside top of the table Stanmore in Division Two's undoubted game of the day.

Eugene Berger led from the front with the bat, opening up and helping himself to 73. Sanjit Sandhu (28 off 41) and Lewis Mitchard (27 off 41) made solid contributions in the middle, helping the Ts to ultimately close on 207-9. Khalid Ahmad (3-31) was Stanmore's best performer.

In reply the hosts never really got going and were blown away for 105 off 31 overs. Details of who did what are sketchy, but the bottom line is that the Ts are now not just 10 points behind Stanmore (who remain top), but also 11 ahead of Indian Gym (who lost by 29 runs against MTSSC). See here for the full table.

Batting woes see for the Threes
The threes again struggled to bat at St Mary's, going down by 18 runs in a low-scoring encounter with Brondesbury.

Bron took first hit and were all out for 119. Fahrier Hasan and Kit Wilson led the way, helping themselves to three wickets each, whilst the enigma that is Robbie Bosier chipped in with a couple. Ali Jennings and Anu Agarwal also managed to get in on the wicket-taking party.

In reply, the Ts imploded. Again. There really does appear to be something about batting at home that the 3s can't come to terms with. 49-6 was bad enough, 53-7 even worse.

The efforts of Anu Agarwal, Ali Jennings and Fahrier Hasan nonetheless ensured that the Ts got close enough to Bron's score to gain a losing bonus point. And that point does at least mathematically ensure survival (see here for the table). Every cloud and all that.

4s just carry on
The 4s simply carry on their merry way, ratcheting up the points and cruising remorselessly towards the title.

Week 15's victims were Richmond who were brushed aside by 59 runs. Uzzi Khan was the undoubted star of the batting show as he posted an impressive 83 out of 163. Nihal Tomar wasn't not out this week, but his innings at the top of the order undoubtedly helped build that winning base.

In reply Richmond were all out fo 114. Dave Jones and Mehan Iqbal got the ball rolling with a wicket apiece, whilst the skipper, Hinay Dassani, claimed a couple.

The undoubted star of the show was nonetheless 15 year old Anthony Jones. Jones is maturing in to an excellent prospect, and his 5-14 blew the Richmond lower and middle order away. Fantastic work!

The win doesn't (quite) secure the title, but a 29 point lead with three weeks left is still clearly a great position to be in. Could next week be the one where the championship is secured? Time will tell.

5ths gain silver medal against Chiswick
The fifths will now definitely be playing Division 6b cricket in 2020. A defeat against Chiswick saw to that.

The Ts had first hit and struggled gamely to 133 all out. Andy Donelan again led the way impressively, notching 32. Indeed, when Donelan and Waris Khan (26) were batting the Ts looked set fair for a total nearer to 200 than 100.

But, wickets fell (at times quickly) as the Ts' middle order wobbled, and only 19 from Liam Tebb and 18 from Luke Muraszko helped the Ts get to 133.

Chris Wylde's side nonetheless came out of the blocks quickly with the ball as Chiswick quickly found themselves 0-2, Harmeet Singh continuing his impressive campaign with both wickets. 19-3 also looked good, but then the Chiswick revival began. A fourth wicket for Harmeet wasn't enough to stop the Chiswick bandwagon as Jack Stansfield (49no) and Chris Myers (62no) saw the visitors home (see here for the card).

That results leave the 5s safely in mid-table (see here). Next week sees the 5s trek over to Winchmore Hill to try and make a push for a top half finish.

All in all then, a weekend of mixed fortunes. Anthony Jones wins the plaudits for producing the star individual performance, whilst the twos' impressive win at Stanmore edges the team result of the day. Good work, fellas.