Drama in abundance for the ones
Week 6 saw the Middlesex leagues move away from win/lose cricket and back towards the timed format of the game. The Twickenham CC 1st XI always appear to be well set up for the limited overs stuff, yet year in year out it's the middle nine games of the season where they tend to pick up most points. Given that Carlos Nunes's men only had a couple of points on the board going in to week 6, a mid-season surge has become more important than ever this year.

The fixture computer (otherwise known as Don Shelley) had nonetheless dealt the Ts a tough hand to get this part of the season going; week 6 saw top play bottom as the Ts visited Hampstead (won every game bar one that was rained off). Throw in the fact that Parminder Singh was away on work duties and the Ts knew that the odds were stacked against them.

Yet, there are some days where sport does weird things. Hampstead certainly started well and George Adair (85 in 79 balls) made batting look very easy. But, once he departed the Ts turned things round remarkably. 134-2 became 176-8 as Jacob Bhula (5-58) and Clint McCabe (3-55 off 18) tweaked and twirled away. A boisterous 37 (44 balls) from Chris Beaumont-Dark at 10 and a useful 32 (41 balls) from Scott Barlow at 9 saw the tail wag, but 256 all out off 62 and a bit overs was by no means a disaster for the Ts.

Brilliant Bhula
The Ts got their reply under way steadily, but a comedy run out did little to settle the Twickenham nerves. Rhys Davies and Jacob Bhula nonetheless kept their cool and slowly began to take control. 70-1 and then 189-2 and all really was looking fine and dandy. But, Don Manuwelge's (52 in 65 balls) departure gave Hampstead a sniff of a comeback. Skipper Nunes came and went quickly, Clint McCabe was out top-edging a pull and Gurjit Sandhu also went without troubling the scorers.

At one stage it looked like Will Roberts's one man bouncer war really would see the hosts to an unlikely triumph. But, amidst the ensuing chaos at the other end, Jacob Bhula remained unmoved. Her serenely kept his head (135no in 158 balls) as number ten Varun Sivaram found himself needing to hit a couple of boundaries to win the game. And, that he did, smashing a(nother) bouncer from Roberts over the non-existent slips to the third man boundary to win the game with two balls to spare (see here for the card).

A special word of appreciation to Hampstead, too. The Lymington Road club is now live-streaming all games from a camera placed just behind the bowler's arm at the Pavilion End. The quality of the picture is superb and by the end of what was a super match it felt like half of Twickenham was watching on Paul Johnson's phone. A great innovation, here's hoping others follow suit.

Twos fall just short
The seconds were also in a decent game of cricket, but ultimately one that didn't lead to the same end result. Southgate batted first, posting 234 -7 off 50 (see here for the card). Max Joseph's 70 (97 balls) was the mainstay of the innings, although Jeremy Dangerfield (52) and Pranay Rathod (48no) also made decent contributions. Tom Field (3-76) was the star performer with the ball.

The Ts began their chase in wobbly fashion as 21-0 became 35-4. Jay Plaha (20) and Varad Rampal (30) tried their bests to shore things up, and whilst Geoff Stothert was at the crease it looked as if the Ts were getting themselves back within sight of victory. But, Stothert's (58 in 52 balls) departure saw Southgate regain the initiative and not even 24 from Nikhil Nomula could prevent the Ts slipping to a 36 run defeat. The Ts subsequently now sit in the relegation zone (see here), but it is tight down there. Still lots and lots to play for.

North Midd skipper thwarts the 3s
The threes came off best in a drawn encounter with North Middlesex. Had the visiting skipper not helped himself to an impressive 133no to save the game there's a very strong chance that Steve Watts's men would have helped themselves to a tasty 12 points.

Connor Finney (108) was the star performer with the bat as the Ts mustered an impressive 262-8. Coach Cowley continued his decent run of recent form with a useful 30 whilst Robbie Bosier bazookad double figures off the final over of the innings.

In reply North Middlesex looked very well set on 180-2 with 14 overs to go. But, a batting wobble saw them ultimately having to settle for a losing draw. The result nonetheless keeps the 3s on North Midd's coattails and looking up with a modicum of confidence (see here for the table).

Dean goes on the warpath
The 4s got back on the winning track as they defeated a sorry Bessborough 3rds. Bessborough could only muster 8 players for the trip to Broom Road and those eight hardy souls did well to muster a total of 140.

In reply, Matt Dean decided that there was no point in hanging around, battering his way to 64 off 36 balls. An impressive return on his seasonal debut. Dean's dismissal did little to change the direction of travel, the 4s ultimately winning by six wickets as Olli George and Uzzi Khan saw the ship safely home.

5ths slip up
The 5th XI's recent impressive run of results came to an end as they slipped to defeat at Wembley. Wembley are never the easiest side to play against, as they seem to have players who can whack the ball more or less all over their batting order.

But, when you bat first and only must 122 on a warm, sunny, batting day then you're always likely to struggle. Nihal Tomar did his best to stem the flow (62 not out), but not even the TCC stats machine could push the Ts up to what would have been a competitive total.

In reply Wembley lost a few wickets on the way, but ultimately the visitors didn't have enough runs in the bank. Wembley won with four wickets to spare.

No cricket on the Green today, folks, but the Ts are in Middlesex Cup action around the corner at Richmond. Looks a tough game on paper, do pop by and cheer the side on if you're in the hood.