Ts win a thriller to make it three out of three

Twickenham and Southgate served up a game of real drama on Twickenham Green on 25 May. Chasing 168 to win, Twickenham appeared up against it when they slipped to 92-6. But, an impressive 39 from Sam Cliffe turned the tables before a knicker-gripping finale saw the winning runs come from the most unlikely of sources.

Both Twickenham and Southgate's second strings came down from the first division in 2018. For the Ts life back in Division Two has started well (two wins from two), whereas their visitors from the Walker Ground have continued to struggle (two defeats on the bounce).

Yet, you wouldn’t necessarily have known that on Saturday. Southgate’s batting line up looked good on paper and, indeed, at 84-2 they were set fair for a decent total. Rajan Patel and Shoaib Zulfiqur were striking the ball nicely and although Lewis Mitchard (2-18 off 6) had started well with the new ball the hosts were beginning to flag.

Skipper Eugene Berger and Nakul Vishvanath, the ever-consistent second XI spin twins, reined things back, and before long Southgate had slipped to 94-5. Vishvanath in particular bowled with a nice loop and was good value for his 4-38 (off 9).

Nonetheless, Southgate’s batters didn’t really help themselves; some poor shots and some decent catching saw Tony Hill also enter the wicket-taking party, and his 3-27 was pivotal in seeing Southgate ultimately finish on 167.

In reply, Steve Cowley started off very positively; boshing two impressive boundaries in the first over. Indeed, Cowley and Vishvanath looked in little trouble as the score moved to 38 without loss. But, as tension slowly began to rise the collywobbles began to set in; Vishvanath departed for 10, Nikhil Nomula came and went quickly whilst Lewis Mitchard snicked off. When Ajmal Allahdad was out to make it 52-4 onlookers in the pavilion were beginning to shuffle in their seats a little.

Only Sam Cliffe really got to grips with things, and his 39 (off 54 balls) did much to steady the ship. He dealt with the impressive leg spin of Edward Harvey (1-38) well and, with Mike Cox, the other dangerous spinner, bowled out it was looking like the Ts were there.

Cliffe, however, also holed out, as did the enigmatic Tony Hill (12 off 32). That left old stager Dan Hough and Dom Thamby to try and eek out a miserly four runs to win the game. Hough may well have been round the block more times than he’d care to remember, but there were still some tricky decisions to be made; would, for example, he take every run going or would he risk exposing Thamby to the returning Southgate opening bowler, Liam Babwith.

Steve Waugh always claimed that in situations like that you take the runs and show faith in your mates. If it was good enough for Waugh, it was good enough for Hough, and three balls in to Babwith’s next over Hough pushed the ball in to the covers and took a single.

What happened next is one of those odd moments that only cricket can produce. Thamby fended off two balls successfully. Babwith’s final ball of the over was a decent one, bouncing more than Thamby anticipated. He snicked it. It went straight in to the gloves of the otherwise immaculate Alistair Lynch behind the stumps. He was all set to celebrate a famous win but then somehow managed to drop the ball … which then ran slowly but surely right behind him and in to the helmet that was about 10 yards behind him. Five penalty runs and game Twickenham.

Southgate don’t seem to have had much luck on Twickenham Green over the years. After all, it was 10 years ago this year that JP Cronje, Mike Vosloo and Jack Parker got promoted to the top flight by batting out against Southgate (who would have gone up themselves from 37-7 (see here). But, if they play like that then their luck will turn.

The Ts, meanwhile, are three from three. They’ll need to be a bit sharper with the bat in future, but you nonetheless can’t argue with 30 points from 30. Next week sees them travel to another unbeaten side, Eastcote, it what will certainly be another interesting encounter.