Three wins, one in the most dramatic of circumstances, and three defeats for Twickenham in Week 5 of the Middlesex County League season. Rashid Mullazahdah was the undoubted star of the show, hitting six off the final ball of a pulsating game on the Green to see the ones home against North Middlesex. The 4s and the 5s also won convincingly.

Day of Drama on the Green
If ever the MCCL needed an advert for the cricket it produces, then that advert was the game between Twickenham and North Middlesex on 5 June. The game ebbed and flowed right up to and including the last ball and both sides comes out of it with immense credit (see here for the card). That a sizeable (socially-distanced, obviously!) crowd was watching by the end added another impressive dimension.

Twickenham started the day well, Adam Mather helping himself to two wickets as North Middlesex wobbled to 55-4. Tej Sheopori (47 off 80) nonetheless steadied the ship before skipper James Parslow (56 off 76) and Hassan Khan (48no off 41) helped the visitors up to an eminently respectable 205. Rashid Mullazahdah (3-33) led the way with the ball for the Ts.

In reply Scott Newman (26) set his stall out to bat long, but he departed as a flurry of middle order uncertainty set in. At 87-5 North Middlesex were certainly favourites. Don Manuwelge (49 off 71) and Blake Cullen (40 off 42) put on 56 to get things moving forward again, but wickets again fell in a flurry and with 7 overs to go Twickenham needed 35 with 3 wickets left. Nails were getting bitten and everything was getting very nervy.

Gareth James (2-24 off 10) was bowling admirably through the middle of all this, but it was Alex MacQueen’s dismissal of Gurjit Sandhu (26 off 39) that looked like it was ultimately going to tip things the Midd’s way. The Ts were down to needing 13 off 12 balls with Mullzahdah and Mather at the crease. That moved to 8 off 6 as squeaky bum time really set in everywhere.

Mullazahdah and Mather did all they could but still found themselves needed four to tie and five to win off the last ball. In living memory only a very select (two as far as is known) group of Twickenham players have ever managed to hit the final ball of a game for six when that was what was needed to win; make that three now. The ball was a low full toss, Mullazahdah stepped across his stumps and smashed it over deep backward square. The fielder on boundary dived full length and got a hand to it but he couldn’t stop it going over the rope (see here to relive it). Cue celebrations the type of which haven’t been seen on the Green for many a year.

Tough day for the twos
The twos, however, had much less to celebrate. They were well beaten at Hamptead (see here for the card).

George Adair led the way for the hosts, helping himself to 99 (72 balls). Indeed, Adair’s efforts were part of the reason that Hampstead got off to a flying start. Phil Nash (3-51) came back to slow the rate down a bit, whilst Nikhil Nomula (1-33 off 9) and skipper Nakul Vishvanath (2-38) also bowled nicely, but neither Hampstead posting an impressive 267.

The Ts got off to their now all too familiar bad start and before long they were struggling on 22-3. Ethan Wright (25 off 30) and Blake van der Linde (20 off 27) dug in a little, but ultimately the Ts fell a long way short. A game to write off and move on from.

Threes win the silver medal
The threes will be echoing those sentiments loud and clear. They lost to Uxbridge at Broom Road (see here for the card).

The evergreen Abrar Dar led the way for Uxbridge, digging in and posting 53 of his side’s 140 all out. Dom Thamby (3-21) bowled impressively with the new ball, whilst the young guns of Hamish Johnston (3-24) and Ali Jennings (2-25) also made excellent contributions. The scene looked set for a first 3rd XI win of the season.

That looked even more the case when the Ts were 72-0 and cruising nicely. Prabhu Dhev (51) and Rob Rigby (24) were making batting look easy, and that even though the playing surface was far from serene.

Cue a monstrous collapse and a defeat in a game the Ts really felt that they should have won. Dom Thamby (9no) remained undefeated at the end, but no one else managed double figures as the 3s collapsed to 122 all out. The 3s move on.

Steady as it goes for Tomar and Khan
The fours, meanwhile, had a much better day at the office, defeating Harrow St Mary’s 3s by five wickets (see here for the card).

The loss of the talismanic Mehran Iqbal to a muscle strain early in his spell didn’t bode well, but the 4s nonetheless held HSM to 154. Bavan Gunaseelen led the way for the hosts with 50. JP Bowman did well with the ball, quietly picking up 2-35 off 10. He was backed up by the ever-reliable Praween Siriwardens (2-39).

Batting-wise two old 4th XI warhorses led the way with conviction. Nihal Tomar dug in, took the strain and posted 39 and Usama Khan, a man who is having an excellent season, hit 62. Their 112 run partnership all but saw the 4s home, although it was ultimately Rajdeep Choudhary and Martin Fairn who were at the crease when the winning runs were scored.

That win moves the 4s up to 4th place (see here for the table). Is another promotion campaign on the cards? It might be…..

Jon Bosier, premier all rounder in the club?
The 5s enjoyed their second win in two weeks against Perivale Pheonicians’ 4s (details here).

Perivale had first hit and posted 99 all out off 37.2 overs. Harmeet Singh (2-37) again tweaked and twirled away nicely, whilst Pete Burke (2-15 off 8) will have his growing band of fantasy league supporters cheering wildly. Wayne Edgar (2-27) also chipped in impressively, as did Max Hint (1-14 off 6) and the self-proclaimed Man of the Match, Jon Bosier (2-7). That Jonty Hunt didn’t even get a bowl remained the subject of much consternation later on in the pavilion on Saturday evening.

Steve Cowley (31) set the tone as the 5s replied although it was that man again, Jonny Bosier (18no), who finished things off. It wasn’t quite as dramatic as Rashid Mullazahdah’s effort on the Green, but it was a six to win the game nonetheless.

McLoughlin in the wickets
Details of the 6ths game against Hounslow and Whitton 4s remain slightly murky, largely as whoever was scoring was clearly only taking a passing interest in the game. See here for the scorecard (including a modicum of creative thinking to make it make sense)

Be that as it may, Harry Tebb thankfully avoided registering an Audi (i.e. four successive noughts) although the 6ths did come off second best. However, for a fleeting moment it did appear that they may be have been on the cusp of a momentous triumph. With 10 to win Hounslow and Whitton hadn’t lost a wicket in their chase. Cue three for Paul McLoughlin (two of which were stumped) and two more dismissals incoming from elsewhere. The wobble was on!

Unfortunately, a first win of the season for the 6s wasn’t quite meant to be. They go again next week.