A target of 173 from 35 overs looked awkward without star middle-order strokemaker Hassan Khan on a green Raynes Park pitch with a few question marks over it. Openers Mark Bradshaw and Mahesh Vyas faced the young V. Solanki (bowling accurately but without the pace of his Worcestershire CCC namesake) from the Coombe Lane End and the medium-fast Nasiri, spearing it in from wide on the crease at the By-pass End. Progress was slow against some accurate bowling and a few awkward bounces. Most of the early scoring was from byes. In the seventh over, Solanki collected the prize wicket of Bradshaw, bowled with the score on 18. This brought Caribbean Mix captain Jim Ferguson to the crease and he quickly re-established a good understanding with Vyas, his former Mix team-mate. Spinner Ebert replaced Solanki and quickly impressed with excellent variations of pace. Vyas played a couple of nice shots through his favourite leg-side off Ebert before the crafty New Zealander produced a slightly slower one and Mahesh spooned it up to leg, departing for 11. Prasanth was the No 4 and, after a hesitant start, began to hit it around quite hard. Ferguson, a destructive player on his day, also began to up the tempo, and twice steered Ahmad for four over the slips, to the dismay of the young left arm paceman. A nice partnership of 41 developed but Nomads were still languishing behind the rate. Another spinner, Midgley, replaced Ebert and, without looking as dangerous as his predecessor, quickly had Jim Ferguson caught for 23 which, as Jim remarked later, is regarded as a failure in Caribbean Mix. Not at all the case with the Nomads.
Ajmal entered and raced to 10 but was then dropped (a straightforward chance) at mid-wicket. This was probably the one point where Nomads looked to be the favourites. In his first proper innings for the Nomads, Ajmal was looking promising and, if he could capitalise on his luck and play a Hassan-type innings, we just might have a chance. These hopes took a severe pounding when Nasiri returned at the By-pass End and bowled Prasanth and Jenkins in the same over, propelling the ball in from wide through the gap between bat and pad both times. Ajmal was joined by Abdul's brother, Abkara Nissar Khan, and the brief partnership of 30 was dominated by Ajmal who launched a murderous assault on Ebert, taking 22 from one over. The runs required were down to 47 from 8 and a half overs but Ajmal was running out of partners and Ebert exacted a quick revenge, Ajmal sent on his way by the honest umpiring finger of Jim Ferguson, LBW for an exciting 46. "We can still do this" was the whisper amongst the watching Nomads, but it contained more than a hint of irony. The scoreboard never totally stagnated while Enam and Nick Lefebve came and went and, with three overs left and the last pair Emil Todorow (starting to bat quite nicely) and John Crossland at the crease, the 27 runs needed were not a complete impossibility. Sadly, in deepening gloom, strokeplay and slogging were both difficult and the innings rather petered out on 155, with Crossland and Todorow joining each other at the same end for a quite droll Run Out on the last ball.
A 17 run defeat then, the latest in a long series of close games against this opposition, and quite an enjoyable match with the benefit of a few days' hindsight. Dulwich are very well run and have some young players who are well-trained but also have considerable individual flair. We look forward to the return match on 17th May.
Man of the Match by some distance was Ajmal with an innings that was as fun to watch as it must have been to play. He was also the most economical bowler. Rob Jenkins also bowled well on his debut and it was nice to have Prasanth back, with the catch of the season so far.
SCOREBOARD
Dulwich - 172 for 7 from 35 overs
Jenkins - 7-0-34-3
Todorow - 7-1-27-1
Ajmal - 7-0-21-0
Enam - 7-0-22-2
Prasanth - 2-0-16-0
A.N.Khan - 1 for about 30 from 5 overs
Clapham Nomads - 155 all out (35 overs)
Bradshaw, 1
Mahesh, 11
Ferguson, 23
Prasanth, 25
Ajmal, 46
Jenkins, 0
A.N.Khan, 0
Enam, 0
Lefebve, 2
Todorow, 7 Not out
Crossland, 2
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