All the build-up was about classic matches in the past between King’s Road and the Battersea Badgers.

The Orange Caps’ resident statto Raju Mazumder recalled an epic win in 2008 in his new From The Vault column.

The Badgers followed up by triumphantly pouring over three years of hurt for The Road on their website. And with their record, who could blame them?

After that the two sides’ first clash of 2012 had a lot to live up to. And it did not disappoint – yielding yet another knife-edge encounter that will live long in the memory.

Badgers skip Jan Marchant drew first blood by winning the toss to put his side into bat on a hot and sunny Saturday at Haydon’s Road in South Wimbledon.

His side struck early – very early – removing Raju for a duck on the fourth ball. There was nothing fishy about the dismissal though, he was clean bowled by Robin Mackrell, and The Road were 0 for 1.

Following that familiar early setback home side – and number two Sham de Silva in particular – started to to have their say in the game.

After negotiating a tricky opening spell, Sham and King’s Road legend Dean ‘The Don’ Aldridge – with an average topping 100 before this match – begin moving up the gears.

Dean hit three sumptuous fours and Sham was looking solid before disaster struck. Dean, the batsman who has won so many games for The Road, was dismissed lbw for 17, just as he had started to get going.

In years gone by The Road would have stumbled at this point, but times have changed.

With the in-form Sham still in the Orange Caps have found another source of guaranteed runs.

Having played himself in then lost his partner, Sham was joined by Leon Watson and the pair put on 85 for the third wicket to take the score to 110 at the drinks break.

Sham, blazing away at some wayward bowling, scored the bulk of the runs and showed skill and assurance while the pair were helped by a series of wides from the Badger bowlers.

Straight after drinks though the more scratchy Leon departed, stumped on 14 by the partnership of Louise Hirst and Badgers skip Jan while going for a big one.

In came Matt Glover. Off the mark first ball, Matt started at a normal pace then signaled his intentions by lashing out with three fours in one over. The Road were firmly in control until on 149 another wicket fell.

Sham, who was looking good for a first King’s Road ton was stumped by Jan off Martin Cloke and, as so often happens when a wicket falls, another follows.

The Badgers, like vermin scuttling round a mortuary after a door had been left open, smelled blood. First Chris MacNichol, then Shailesh Joshi and Jamie Keating fell cheaply.

But at the other end Matt G was winding it up bigstyle. He hit three sixes in a row and began what was an astonishing assault on the Badger bowling.

It meant that while the wickets went in quick succession, the scoreboard was motoring. Chris M fell on his eighth ball to Cloke but the score had gone from 149 to 162. Shailesh was run out for 2 in a mix up in the middle on his fourth ball, but in the time that took Matt had boosted the total with 29 runs to put The Road on 193.

In what seemed like no time the Gloverman raced to his fifty – mistakenly cheered from the sidelines when he was 46 – and then just continued on.

After Jamie, lasting two balls, was caught at mid wicket off Matt Cocken entered the fray for the final few over and hit 10 not out while the other Matt continued his assault.

By the close of the innings he had hit an incredible 82 not out off 61 balls and The Road had posted their second biggest score ever in a 40 over match. So much for fielding first.

Robin and Alex Morse bowled tidily, picking up a wicket each, and so did Jinks and Shone. But no Badger returned impressive figures. Martin Cloke was the only member of the attack to take two wickets, but went for 11 runs an over.

What the Badgers needed now was some of what The Road had taken, and at first it seemed like they would struggle.

Six an over, even on a batsman’s pitch was a tall order, and in the opening over Matt G struck on the third ball to remove Warman lbw.

Lee and Marchant dug in and slowly built a partnership until Lee became Matt’s second victim, bowled spectacularly for 24, with the score on 51.

Then Jinks came to the crease and put on a further 68 runs with Marchant until the skipper – much to The Road’s relief – was bowled by Sham for 56 off 62 balls. The Badgers were fighting hard, and proving difficult to dislodge.

With Cloke, Jinks racked up another half-century partnership to take the score to 172 for 4 before Cloke was removed by Shailesh for a speedy 19.

Suddenly The Road’s mammoth score wasn’t looking so big. The Badgers had plenty of time and still some big-hitters to come.

Next in was one of them – Mackrell, who immediately hit three fours and a six. But then disaster struck for the Badgers when Shailesh struck again, bowling Mackrell for 18.

At 196 for 5 the match was on a knife edge. A quick wicket or two would put The Road in the driving seat, but a flurry of boundaries would rip out all their hope.

But it was The Road who capitalised, with Matt C bagging Shone seven runs later and then Leon running out the lynchpin Jinks for a potentially match-winning 64 off 75 balls.

With the score on 209 for 7, the Badgers were still in it though. With three wickets in hand and just seven an over needed the match was well within their grasp. An accurate second spell from Jeremy put paid to that though as he pinned them down at the crease and removed Morse for 10.

It was left to Thorpe and birthday boy Barker, two former club captains, to win the match and despite a gallant attempt from both they came up short. In the final over the stalwarts were left with a 18 to win and the match ended with the Badgers 7 runs behind.

In a match dominated by batsmen, Matt G  – one of those dominating batsmen himself – was also the pick of The Road’s bowlers with a miserly 2 for 27 off 8.

It was a long-awaited win for The Road, and another classic encounter to add to the scrapbook.