A REPORT BY MARK BRADSHAW.
Following the long walk fron Pitch D to the pavilion at CSSG Chiswick, the Nomads and Exiles enjoyed a fairly decent tea before the long walk back to pitch D. The Nomads had at least given themselves a chance against an Exiles batting line-up missing the obdurate Keith Roberts and aggressive Simon Gundry, but one that still had quite a bit of strength.
Hassan Khan and Emil Todorow opened the bowling and both started very tidily before Emil had the dangerous Davies caught in the gully by Hassan. Searle followed in Emil's next over, paying the price for not getting forward to a good length ball. Emil had a close LBW shout turned down against the No. 4 batsman, Sri, and appeared to be affected by this as Sri picked him off with several decent leg-side shots, despite Jim Ferguson's vociferous encouragement.
At the other end, Parker-Jones was fairly steady but did play one or two shots which only just dropped to safety. Hassan (who conceded only 13 runs in 8 overs) and Emil (2 for 34) both bowled their full quota of overs in a single spell and were replaced by Ajmal and Abdul. Ajmal worked up a good amount of pace, but Abdul was unable to find his direction, and Exiles looked as if they were going to get to their target comfortably as they reached 90-odd for 2.
Gideon Reeve replaced Abdul and made an almost immediate impact, dismissing Sri and Parker-Jones in quick succession. Ajmal then gained some reward for his efforts as he dismissed the Exiles' No. 6 and No. 7 batsmen in the same over, with John Crossland completing a fine catch for the second wicket.
With 30-odd still required to win, the Exiles were heavily reliant on Wil Scott and captain Andy Wingfield to complete the job. They played carefully for several overs and looked well set until Ajaml blitzed a low full toss through Andy Wingfield which not only hit the leg stump but broke it in two! Ajmal completed his 8-over stint for well-deserved figures of 3 for 30. Exiles' No. 9, Utley, played a rather rash shot which saw him bowled by Riaz, and the veteran Naren Patel came to the wicket with about 10 required to win. However, despite some very tidy bowling from Riaz (1 for 4 in 3 overs) and Gideon Reeve (2 for 24), Wil and Naren played very sensibly before Naren drove a single to win the game by two wickets.
There was no disgrace in losing to a solid Energy Exiles team. The whole Nomads team gave 100% in trying to defend a low-ish total and bowled exceptionally well. The efforts shown in the field were very encouraging and Ajmal's excellent bowling spell augurs well for the rest of the season.
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