What started as a straightforward summer league fixture became something of a logistical marathon for Twickenham. A match originally arranged as an eight-a-side game at 10:00am at Indian Gymkhana had, by Thursday, become a ten-a-side fixture at a different ground with a 9:30am start. At 9am on the morning of the match, the venue changed again.

By 9:30am, Twickenham’s players were at the ground and ready to go — but there was no sign of the opposition, confirming that any promises of earlier start times should be approached with a healthy dose of scepticism.

But play did eventually get underway. Indian Gymkhana won the toss and elected to bat. Twickenham had only seven players available, so the home side kindly provided a spare player — someone who would later have a significant impact on the match, although perhaps not in the way Twickenham would have hoped.

Holly and Zac opened the bowling and both delivered economical two-over spells without getting the reward of a wicket. Alfie Fernandez did make the breakthrough in the 4th over, finishing with figures of 1 for 16.

The pick of the bowlers was Connor Thomson, who claimed 2 wickets for just 7 runs from his two overs. Twickenham also produced some excellent work in the field, with run-outs adding to Indian Gymkhana’s problems. Thomson's eighth over was particularly productive, producing three wickets.

The spare player supplied by Indian Gymkhana proved the most expensive of Twickenham’s bowlers. After a frugal opening over, their second went for 18 runs, including four boundaries. This late acceleration left Twickenham needing to chase down 310 for victory.

Twickenham made a flying start. Player of the Day Connor Thomson followed up his excellent bowling performance by scoring 19 runs, including a six in the second over. Alongside Alfie, who scored 13, the opening pair put together an excellent 37-run partnership from the first four overs.

Holly and Ava also started positively, striking a couple of well-timed boundaries. Two wickets in consecutive balls briefly slowed their progress, but they recovered well in their final over to keep Twickenham in contention.

Some excellent Indian Gymkhana bowling through the middle overs then restricted May and the spare player, who would finish on -6, meaning that as Twickenham approached the final four overs, they still required around 40 runs to win.

That left the final pair of Zac and Freddie with a difficult task. Both battled well, with Zac scoring 18 runs, including several boundaries, but ultimately the target proved just beyond Twickenham's reach.

Extras also made a significant difference. Twickenham conceded 54 runs in extras, compared with Indian Gymkhana's 26 — a 28-run swing in what otherwise proved a competitive contest.

Twickenham were able to fulfil another summer league fixture and once again give the players the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in a competitive environment. There were plenty of positives, particularly Connor's excellent all-round performance, and more valuable match experience for the whole team.