Ealing CC 3rd XI vs Twickenham CC 3rd XI

Put in to bat on a pitch which the Twickenham captain apologised for before the start of the game, we knew that if we could get anything above 150 we’d be in with a good chance. After Ali Dewhurst (35) and Andre got us off to a flyer, a flurry of wickets suddenly left us reeling at 68-4 and in danger of slumping to a low score. However, resolute batting from the lower middle order, in particular Ally Hillman (43*) and Trishank Gupta (22) got us up to what looked like a defendable 157 all out.

After a satisfactory tea, we set about winning the game knowing that we’d have to bowl well to take it home. It quickly became clear that the pitch had become a little bit easier to bat on, but thanks to a Moule-esque spell of 21.4-4-63-5 from Nabil, who ensured regular wickets fell at one end we always stood a chance. At the other end, Trishank’s leggies got us 4 wickets (two of which were rather fortuitous), and combined with some brilliant catches (most notably from Ali Dewhurst and Henry Anton) we were always in the game. When the 9th wicket fell with 20 odd still to win we were favourites, knowing that we’d definitely still get one more chance. It came with Twickenham still 16 behind, their number 10 popping up and absolute dolly of a return catch to Nabil. It was such an easy catch that we’d already begun celebrating, except Nabil somehow managed to drop it. Thankfully he grabbed it at the second attempt and a very tight game of cricket was won by 16 runs. With other results going our way we’re now 10 points clear of Shepherds Bush at the top, playing them in a crucial game this Saturday that could go a long way to deciding promotion, with MTSCC only 15 points behind us in 3rd.