By R. Prabhu Dhev

For several members of the Twickenham 2s squad, this was the third visit to table-toppers Ealing (after the Middlesex Cup and T20 games) over the last month. This would have typically meant an intimate knowledge of the Ealing pitch that gets tougher to bat on with wear. Couple this with the overcast morning conditions and we had a toss that was good to lose.

Steady as she goes for the Ts' batters
Ironically, skipper Nakul Vishvanath managed to win his first flip in eight attempts and had no hesitation in choosing to bat. The openers Callam Goldthorp and Nikhil Nomula got ready to vindicate their skipper’s decision but were stopped short by a long shower. Thanks to Ealing’s excellent drainage, play was able to start around 1 pm, meaning an 85-over affair was on the cards.

The openers started steadily, putting away the loose balls and reaching 35 in 16 overs. Credit due to Alex Fell and Jack Sheppard (not the legendary umpire’s grandson!) for some probing new ball bowling. Unfortunately, one of the few balls that Nikhil did not control accounted for him, with a smart snaffle at gully. Phil Nash walked in and played a few attractive strokes before falling for the steady off-spin of Ahsan Faraz. At the other end, Goldthorp (34) motored on serenely as he has over the last few weeks. Visions of a second successive half century were nipped in the bud when he was adjudged leg before off Ned Harris.

Ben-Leale Green (47 not out) ensured the presence of a calming influence at the crease. He started off watchfully against the spin of Ahsan and young Alex Gallimore (3 for 47). He proceeded to pace his innings well, collecting ones and twos, and closed the innings with some attractive sweeps and lofted drives. The inside-out shot over extra cover was particularly pleasing on the eye. Ben was helped in his efforts by a strong lower order push with Eugene Berger, Ajmal Allahdad and Prabhu Dhev all finding the ropes, meaning that Twickenham batted out their maximum quota of 47 overs to reach 157, and crucially, took the momentum with them into the tea break.

Berger keeps his powder dry until the very end
With the magic number of 127 in 38 overs for the winning draw in mind, Ealing started their chase in earnest. Blake Van der Linde and Ali Jennings ensured a steady start for Twickenham, offering minimal width, bowling into the slowing pitch and making the batsmen work hard for their runs. Credit must also be given to the Ts’ fielding, which was quite sharp, and Nakul, who led his troops admirably.

Callum Kay and Oliver Simpson were nonetheless building a threatening partnership when Nikhil Nomula (some call him the Magician, others call him Twickenham’s Darren Stevens) came on to bowl. Expectations of him were high, considering his strong performance against the same opponents in a Cup game a few weeks ago, and Nomula (6 for 17) did not disappoint. His assortment of cutters, slower balls and seamers proved extremely difficult for the Ealing batsmen to read. By his personal confession, he enjoyed the wicket of Oliver Simpson (56) the most – a back-off-the-hand slower ball that tricked the batsman to chip to mid-wicket. It must be said that Simpson was extremely impressive, shepherding the tail while picking up runs when possible on a tough track.

Nomula was given good company at the bowling crease by the evergreen Eugene Berger, who increasingly found more response from the pitch for his twirlers. Eugene’s excellent bowling had yielded him only one wicket until he started his, and the innings’, last over. At that point, Ealing needed 21 for the winning draw, with two wickets in hand. Memories of Ravi Shastri’s booming voice proclaiming “All three results are possible” were running in the back of the head (winning draws for either team or an outright win for Twickenham). Eugene beat captain Alex Fell’s sweep for an LBW off the first ball, and bowled the number 11 off the second ball, triggering raucous celebrations for Twickenham in the middle.

Indeed, the stories flowed for long into the night at the clubhouse, with England's thrashing of Ukraine proving to be the frosting on the proverbial cake. The twos have much to look forward to, with next week’s clash against Richmond providing a chance for a spot in the top half of the table - how things change within days!