A glorious morning in northwest London and a decent-looking wicket persuaded skipper Fear to bat first and Teddington’s openers, Keightley and Twiney, set about the task with relish, aided by a number of free hits generously donated by Hampstead’s seamers. The score proceeded serenely to 137 before Keightley and Twiney fell in close succession for 68 and 66, and a period of consolidation from Armstrong and Williams followed. As the innings approached its close Williams (68) began to cut loose with some clean hits over long-on and deep mid-wicket, aided by Winter, whose pads Hampstead swiftly learned not to target. A couple of towering sixes from wicketkeeper Rist saw Teddington finish on a competitive 329-7.
Hampstead will perhaps regret that their early run-rate left them with a little too much to do, but it was nevertheless a creditable effort to get within 14 runs of the Teddington total, due in the main to a composed, and later destructive, century from Clark. Some accurate bowling from openers Armstrong and Pollock, followed up by Keightley and Cato, meant Hampstead proceeded at a rate of only a shade over 5 an over for the majority of the innings, and at one stage required 170 from only 17 overs, albeit with wickets in hand. Some clever improvisation from Watson and lusty hitting from Clark allowed them to exploit the slope and shorter boundaries as Hampstead scored 100 off the next 10 overs, before spinner Munday returned to exert a measure of control and swing the game back in Teddington’s favour. A couple of tight overs and the game was up for Hampstead, with 33 required off the last, and Armstrong content to offer the number 10 some range-hitting practice. A strong performance from Teddington as the team chalked up its first away win of the season.
Author: Sam Cato