After the calamity of last year's fixture, which included a mankad run out, some heated home supporting, a finish in the dark and a nine-down drop catch which would have won the game for us, but also may have precipitated an on-pitch riot, the Mighty 4s travelled to Ickenham expecting a harsh welcome, but instead were greeted heartily for the match.

Amazingly Pistol won the toss, then immediately sent the home team into bat on a flat looking wicket, with the knowledge of having a very strong and inform 4th XI lineup resting up in the change room.

With George and Bootsy opening up, Boots (0/28 off 9) produced an amazing first five overs of maidens to completely restricted the scoring from his end with lovely away swing and controlled line and length. Georgie was bowling well from the other end, but Ickenham's openers got him away for a few. Nick Friend (0/47 from 11) replaced George and also bowled well without luck, at times doing too much with the ball. Ickenham had moved to 90 without loss when Pistol was introduced, immediately removing their free swinging opener for 67. With the other opener also tickling one behind for 47, the run rate slowed down, before Pistol chipped in with a few more to pick up his 5-fer. Dykie replaced Nick and got into the action with two wickets, as Pistol returned to replace George's (0/63 from 10) second spell to pick up another to finish with 6/34 from 14 overs and leave Ickenham 221/8 from 55 overs.

The team had been looking forward to the break after last year's "Best Teas in Middlesex Cricket", and although the Lunch Ladies seemed to have dialled it back slightly from last year, a very nice tea was had.

Being left only 45 overs to get the runs meant that a rate of 5 an over was required, but with the batting line up assembled, this was not thought to be a major issue, especially after knocking off a similar chase last match.

With G-Man and Paddy opening up, the Midd raced to 45 before Gaurav got cleaned up by Ickenham's own G-Man for 19, then Marc soon fell for 5 to an amazing catch at gully. At this stage, Ickenham thought they might be in with a chance, but sublime innings' from both Paddy and 4s debutant Tom put the Midd in control and the result beyond doubt. Both batsmen mixed panache and style with aggression to leave no one wondering about the class and quality of the two. With the ground surrounded by shrubbery, replacement balls were continuously being fetched as Paddy and Tom dispatched boundary after boundary deep into the brambles. Paddy finally fell for 72 (from 93 balls) to a skied catch to mid on, then Tom, running out of runs to get his century before the win was notched up, was caught on the boundary for 94 (from 83 balls) trying to homer to bring up the ton and win the match at the same time. The returning Yohan then finished the match off with ten overs to spare in a blaze of glory.