A very professional performance

Al Forward writes:

I just wanted to say a huge congratulations to the team for the excellent win last night.

It was one of the best all-round performances I have seen from our team in the last 7 years. The attitude in the field, the bowling and the run chase at the end was like watching a professional match. I was slightly jealous that I was not sitting the other side of the boundary rope enjoying a few beers.

Ali lost the toss and Teddington decided to have a bowl, which is our usual course of action - we love a run chase.

Teddington, who are second in the league table, got off to a good start with their opener hitting a number of decent shots and with the outfield being fast he scored a number of 4s moving quickly onto 23. Then a moment of brilliance from the athletic, George Ketteringham, running out the other opener for 1 was just what we needed.

We had decided that our 4 strike bowlers would have a 3 over stint each. Dom and Ali opened restricting Teddington to 41 off of the first 6 overs.

First change saw Frankie come on to bowl. He had told me he had hurt his foot so thought he would bowl spin - I kindly asked him not too! And was glad I did as he took the wicket of their number 3 batsman with a vicious inswinger - Teddington were 49 for 2. Both Frankie and Freddie bowled tightly for their 6 overs with Frankie getting an LBW to dismiss the number 4 - would have gone on to hit middle for those that want to know.

We then rotated the bowlers a bit more and had some spin from Cameron Capper and Hamish Johnston and a couple of tight over from Josh and Harry Tebb and we finished up with Frankie (yes the one with the dodgy foot) and Ali who dismissed the Teddington No 1 for 92.

Teddington had made a decent score of 159 for 4 the last time we played them in the dark and rain in Bushey Park, they put on 185 for 1.

One of the best things about the performance was our attitude in the field. Everyone was energetic and always looked keen to get involved. What with the hardness of the ground and some decent stroke play from Teddington the ball raced across the field but everyone put their body on the line and got down to stop the ball - none more so than Freddie who seemed to cop it wherever he was fielding. Joshua Ingleton made an excellent stop at Backward Short Leg that stopped a certain 4.

The bowling was much more accurate than of late as well - with only 4 wides being conceded. Perhaps the press-up forfeits from last weekend's nets did indeed motivate and focus the minds of the boys.

I thought that Ali set the field well and was particularly impressed that he moved the field to include a Deep Cover Point that again saved a number of certain 4s.

Although we had restricted them to under 160 it was still a good score and we would need to go some to get close.

Our usual opener of Ali Jennings was joined by Frankie Lingeman at the crease and they batted superbly matching the Teddington run rate and getting us to 45 off of the first 7 overs. A very decent controlled start. Frankie hit a number of cracking 4s before he was caught. Ali was his usual composed self and hit 6 fours in his total of 32 before he was unluckily caught behind via an edge and helmet.

So we were 59 for 2 in the 8th and George and Cameron were at the crease. George did his usual defending the ball which means he hits it for 4 but was out trying one too many but they had hit 26 in 2 overs and we were now 85 for 3. Olly Forward in next but he fell cheaply to the Teddington spinner but the 100 was up in the 13th over.

We then had the Cam and Freddie Martin show. The Teddington bowlers were dispatched to the boundary with increasing regularity. Freddie usually likes to run a bit but he clearly couldn't be bothered as he hit 26 in 13 balls with 6 fours.

But it was Cameron that controlled the game playing some brilliant shots. He smashed the ball to all parts of the ground, playing the ball late and never looked like being out. He got to 50 off of 23 balls and finished Not Out on 63 off of 31 which included 13 fours.

With 1 run to win with two overs left Cameron decided to test Freddie's pace and set off having hit the ball straight to a close fielder. The loud call of 'yes' clearly panicked the fielder who missed the ball and Freddie was safely through for the winning run.

Twickenham won by 6 wickets with two overs to spare - this moves the team up the table and just 5 points behind Sunbury, with 2 matches still to play in the league.

A fantastic win - well done the boys, lets keep this up and finish the season with a flourish.

Thank you for the fantastic parent support, Liam for scoring, Trevor and Craig for helping with the set up. Next game is next Thursday vs Richmond at home.