THE topsy-turvy title race in the top flight of the Middlesex County Cricket League took another turn on Saturday as Teddington seized control of the table with just four games to go.

Three defeats in four matches have seen North Middlesex surrender a golden opportunity to pull away from their Premier Division rivals.

Their latest disappointment came at The Green where James Parslow’s side suffered a four-­wicket defeat against Twickenham.

Electing to bat first, North Midd quickly found themselves ­struggling on 31-2 after Rashid Mullahzadah (2-26) removed openers Evan Flowers and David Heavyside for four and 26 runs respectively.

Ben Ellis then tormented the visitors as he put in one of the best bowling displays of the day, taking five wickets at the expense of 50 runs in an energy-sapping 19-over spell that included six maidens.

In at number seven, Fergal Walter did his best to ignite the North Midd innings, hitting an unbeaten 40 off 72 balls. But his efforts couldn’t stop the title challengers from slumping to their second-lowest total of the season as they were bowled out in the 45th over for just 124.

But when you’re going up against a side battling relegation even such a slender advantage can be misleading. And it looked like North Midd might be about to pull off something special after Max Harris’s early breakthrough – removing opener Scott Newman for 17 – was reinforced by a couple of early wickets for David O’Sullivan (2-37) to leave ­Twickenham on 30-3.

Ben Leale-Green helped the hosts ride out the storm, however, as he hit 37 runs off 37 balls, forming a vital partnership with Radhakrishna Marripati, who scored 26.

Will Vanderspar reignited North Midd’s hopes when he removed the pair on his way to recording figures of 2-27. But in the end Twickenham did more than enough to get over the line as they reached their winning score of 128-6 in 25 overs.

North Midd’s defeat was compounded by the news that Teddington had won their potentially difficult away day at Hampstead by 126 runs.

Having been put in to bat first, Matthew Winter lit up Teddington’s charge as he scored 107 off 184 balls in a well-crafted knock that included no fewer than 14 fours.

Winter’s efforts helped the visitors end their 60-over innings at Lymington Road on 288-4.

Mubasher Hassan was the pick of the Hampstead batsmen, finishing the afternoon on 64 not out. But Ben Frazer’s side just couldn’t get close enough to their ­target as they ended play on 162-9. The victory saw Teddington move seven points clear of North Midd at the top of the table.