Rumour has it Steve McQueen has checked into a local Premier Inn and 2s’ captain Blake van der Linde has ordered a fleet of motorbikes. Yep, the second XI’s Great Escape is most definitely on.

Nash rides to the rescue for the 2s
Little more than 10 days ago the twos were looking down the abyss. Eleven weeks of cricket and not a single win to show for it.

In Week 12 the twos broke that duck with an emphatic win against Highgate and in Week 13 they secured an eye-catching 12 points by beating promotion-chasing Shepherd’s Bush (see here for the card).

The Ts had first hit and put 258 on the board from 50 overs. Rhett Wallbridge (52 off 66), Nakul Vishvanath (46 off 96) and Phil Nash (a speedy 53no off 30) did most of the damage there, Shropshire’s Alex Blofeld (3-34) and Hugo Hughes (3-29) were to the fore with the ball.

The Bush’s reply didn’t start off particularly well, Ali Jennings removing Jonny Armitage caught behind with the score on 6. George Ellaby (26 off 48) and Jack Aldous-Fountain (19 off 39) steadied the ship, but wickets did keep falling and at 83-6 Shay Boo were in real trouble.

Cue a magnificent fightback by Hugo Hughes. He hit 114 (off 83 balls) to put the Bush right back in it. The man of the moment with the ball, Phil Nash, nonetheless stepped up to get the Ts over the line. He claimed his second five wicket haul in a week, ending with 5-36 as the Ts wrapped up a well-deserved win.

Kenton start quick, Twickenham finish strong
Elsewhere, the ones ultimately had an excellent day at the office, too. They beat Kenton by seven wickets and moved up to fifth in Division One (see here for the card).

Ten overs in, however, and it was Kenton who were very much making hay while the sun shone. Opener Hamza Qayyum went ballistic, hitting 62 off 33 as the hosts got off to a blistering start. The middle order also chipped in nicely, Kenton moved to a menacing 197-4 with a good ten overs plus left to bat.

That, however, was where everything started to go cataclysmically wrong for Kenton. Gus McKenzie tweaked and twirled impressively to end with 4-59 whilst Nikhil Nomula continued his impressive 2024 to sweep away the lower order. He finished with 5-60. That meant that Kenton slipped disastrously from 197-4 to 210 all out.

The Ts have not always batted that well of late. Saturday, however, was a different story. Openers Patrick Dixon (42 off 87) and Jiyaad Magrey (49 off 51) put 98 on the board before Magrey departed, but that simply allowed Don Manuwelge (53no off 58) and skipper Carlos Nunes (45 off 38) to see the ship home. Impressive stuff.

Runs galore in the threes’ game
The threes have been doing well of late and at half-way in their clash against Bessborough they will have been in confident mood.

The top four all batted nicely, Imran Niazai leading the way (62 off 39), with Ollie George (46 off 75), Dev Tomlinson (46 off 67) and Rajdeep Choudhary (45 off 43) all contributing nicely. Indeed, the lowest score of anyone who was out was 23 as the Ts’ batting really came to the party. 272 off 46 was a decidedly decent effort.

Bessborough, however, batted admirably. Suresh Peththawadu led the way and his century (108no off 99) was the backbone of Bessborough’s successful chase. Imran Niazi (2-74) did all he could to stop their charge, but ultimately is was not to be as Bessborough got home with five overs to spare (see here for the card).

Dassani leads the way, but 4s go down to defeat
The fours’ batting problems once again came back to haunt them as they went down by 109 runs to London Tigers (see here for the card).

The Tigers went in first and they were dismissed for 182. The ever-impressive Hinay Dasani was the star attraction with the ball, he claimed 4-53. Praween Siriwardena (3-74) also put in a long stint with the ball, as the Ts did all they could to keep the Tigers in check.

The Ts won’t have felt 182 was completely out of reach, but if the Ts were going to win then a couple of batters needed to dig in and come to the party.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Mo Khizzer was the stand out performer (26 off 38), but the next top score was 8 as things fell away badly. That meant 40-1 became 73 all out and 12 points for London Tigers.

Fives gain silver medal
The fives also had a day to forget. They played Ealing Trailfinders 3s, a side that they always seem to struggle against. Saturday was unfortunately no different.

The Ts batted first and put 78 on the board. That was never likely to be enough, and sure enough Ealing Trailfinders made short work of that. They got home for the loss of two wickets and inside 20 overs.

So, a couple of impressive wins for the ones and twos, more work to do for the threes, fours and fives. We move on!