There were plenty of positives for Twickenham, with players continuing to show encouraging development with both bat and ball.

Twickenham captain Rory Flynn maintained his 100% record at the toss, calling correctly and choosing to field first.

Richmond's opening pair made a brisk start, with Oliver Burrows finishing as their top scorer on 19. He found the boundary regularly, particularly through the leg side. Twickenham's opening bowlers, Zac, Holly and Arthur, all bowled well, but Richmond accumulated 37 runs from the first four overs.

Twickenham continued to bowl impressively and the run rate reduced significantly from then on. Freddie Homewood claimed Twickenham's first wicket with a well-deserved breakthrough in the fifth over. Dominic Jones followed up in the sixth over, clean bowling another Richmond batter.

There was a lengthy wait before Twickenham's third and final wicket, which was claimed by the rapidly improving Rory Flynn.

Kit, Connor and Alfie all bowled well in the middle overs, but again without reward.Twickenham did not help themselves by taking several wickets that were ultimately ruled out as above waist height no-balls.

Overall, all the bowlers delivered accurate spells and maintained good economy rates. Their performances deserved more than the three wickets taken. Bowling a few more deliveries at the stumps, while reducing the number of head-height beamers, will improve fortunes in future matches.

Set a target of 305, Twickenham knew the chase was achievable. The batting line-up had produced strong scores throughout the season and possessed plenty of depth.

Twickenham would score 141 runs, but the loss of 12 wickets resulted in a 60-run deduction, leaving them with a final total of 81. Several batters struggled to hit some of the slower bowling, resulting in missed or mistimed shots.

A decisive moment came in the 12th over when Richmond bowler Sampson bowled with great strength and delivered a four-wicket maiden, pushing Twickenham further behind the required run rate.

There were still encouraging batting performances. Freddie Homewood top-scored with 22, collecting runs all around the wicket. Charlie Ross-Sampson added 21, with all of his scoring shots coming through the off side.

Three other Twickenham batters — Dominic, Connor and Rory — all reached double figures. Twickenham's final two pairs increased the scoring rate. However, the team had fallen just too far behind for victory to become a realistic possibility.

Despite Twickenham scoring consistently and having plenty of players reach double figures, the regular loss of wickets proved costly.

Learning a wider range of back-foot scoring shots and using correct footwork will unlock strokes such as the square cut and pull shot.

A greater focus on timing, getting bat on ball and running between the wickets, rather than trying to hit every ball as hard as possible, will help improve future batting performances.