There was plenty of demand for one more match to round off this fine season and I was pleased when the Fixture Bureau informed me that our old pals the Energy Exiles were also looking for a fixture. The close links between the clubs ensured an interesting climax to the campaign but our 2 previous defeats against Exiles raised the nagging fear of a humiliating 3-0 whitewash.
The Exiles won the toss and Keith Roberts and John Tither opened - as always with this team, a left-hand / right-hand combination. An initial flurry of boundaries was followed by several successive maidens as opening bowlers Hassan Khan and Ajmal bowled with good pace and accuracy. Tither had made a match-winning 50 against us back in June and was just beginning to look threatening again when Hassan produced one of his best; a good length Jaffa with a hint of swing to bowl this dangerous player. Roberts played his usual cautious hand early on and, joined by Wil Scott, nudged the score up remorselessly with stout defence and a sprinkling of flicks and shots. Ajmal was unlucky on several occasions, finding the inside edge but remaining wicketless.
With the score around 30 for 1 off 12 overs there was a double bowling change. Emil Todorow was on the money straight away and produced several of the balls only he can bowl which are known as "The Remarkable Delivery," kicking up to neck height at slow-medium off a good length. He soon accounted for Wil Scott. At the other end, Gideon Reeve struggled to find last week's accuracy against the left-handed pair of Roberts and No. 4 Sam Scott who took several boundaries, mostly behind square. A brilliant direct hit from Hassan Khan was the highlight of this period but Keith Roberts just made his ground and, after 20 overs, the match was very nicely poised with Exiles on 68 for 2
As ever in the 2nd half of an Exiles innings, Roberts now began to increase the tempo but, when on 30, he uncharacteristically swung across the line to Todorow. Many have tried this but few have survived and the stumps rattled to give the skipper a vital 2nd wicket. Even better followed when No.5 David Stiffell had a heave at Todorow which went straight up to wide mid-on where Ajmal was waiting. The veteran Bulgarian-born seamer had his reward at last for weeks of luckless toil.
Gideon Reeve found his radar in the second half of the spell and after 24 overs, Amin and Gopi took their turn. What a luxury to have bowlers of this calibre coming on 3rd and 4th change. Amin's nagging left-arm accuracy was a good balance for Gopi's endless variety. Gopi had Exiles' captain Amil Patel caught using a variation he hadn't tried before - a low full toss. Some dangerous hitters remained but arguably the most dangerous of these fell to the best piece of outfielding seen from a Nomads player this season. A bullet throw by Ajmal, standing fully two-thirds of the way back to the boundary, struck the stumps first bounce and ran out Simon Gundry by several yards. Another big shot-maker, Andy Wingfield, came up against Gopi at his best and an over featuring several sharp turners culminated in the Exiles all-rounder holing out to Ajmal - who else - at wide mid-on.
No.9 Martin Thomas has been in sparkling form lately and cracked a couple of hefty blows off Amin, but our left-armer took his revenge by depriving the former Nomads player of partners. Two wickets in two balls - one a ? club record 4th catch for Ajmal - ended proceedings on 129 which was lower than seemed likely at any stage of the innings.
Over tea, Nomads could almost taste the possibility of finally breaking the hex Exiles have put on us. Ben Fewson and Mahesh Vyas took guard but disaster struck in the third over when Andy Wingfield first had Fewson caught behind for 4 and then bowled Prasanth round his legs the next ball. Hassan Khan was No. 4 and was due a big innings against Exiles. Mahesh Vyas managed to power Naren Patel for two successive 4s but never looked entirely comfortable against these awkward bowlers and Patel soon had him caught behind for 8. 16 for 3 and there was a sense that much depended on Hassan and Amin. Amin lived up to his nickname "Six" by hitting just that off Naren Patel and then following up with two 4s in Patel's next over to remove the crafty opener from the attack. A rapid partnership began to develop with Hassan playing a series of fine straight hits. Andy Wingfield retired with a pulled hamstring and paceman Simon Gundry took over at the Wimbledon End. Gundry is quicker than most at this level and bowls few bad balls. The watching Nomads felt, with Hassan and Amin pushing the score up past 50 and with little of Wingfield and Patel to come, that if we could restrict Gundry to one wicket or fewer, we might have a real chance. It took the big speed merchant 12 balls to really lock his missiles on to their target but when he did, Hassan's stumps were shattered.
78 for 4 left the match very evenly balanced. No. 6 Nick Lefebve's instructions were to see off Gundry at all costs and try to poach some scraps from the others. He coped adequately with the paceman for a while but Martin Thomas struck a mortal blow at the other end in having Amin excellently caught with a diving flourish by Wil Scott. Ajmal attempted a couple of big hits but perished on the second of them. Gideon Reeve gloved a very rapid Gundry Special to the keeper. Lefebve was on 1 after 7 overs and when he finally received a leg-stump delivery from Gwyn Thomas, he swept it straight to square leg where Sam Scott snapped up the chance at the second attempt. 5 wickets had fallen for 4 runs and we looked set to fall to our first heavy defeat of the season and, as Old Leagonians would put it, "have our pants pulled down."
Emil Todorow joined Gopi at the crease and soon began to smack the ball straight with brutal force. What initially seemed a cameo quickly turned into a captain's innings and all the bowlers felt his power as Nomads cruised past 100. Gopi provided support with some nice leg-side shots. At 111 for 8 we needed 19 to win off 6.3 overs and two well-set batsmen appeared to be steering us to a famous victory. The returning Naren Patel's final over felt important and so it proved as he pegged back Gopi's leg stump. Out came John Crossland and, with Martin Thomas having only one over left, Gwyn Thomas would have to be accompanied by a part-time bowler for at least 2 overs if Nomads' veteran last-wicket pair managed to see out the innings. Surely still a sniff of a chance then, but sadly M. Thomas maintained his unerring line and rapped John Crossland's pad plumb in front. The umpire had little choice but to confirm Exiles' 4th successive victory over the Nomads.
So we were whitewashed, the first time we have lost to the same team 3 times in one season, but at least it was only 13 runs. How are we ever going to beat the Exiles? We might have to get the chequebook out and pay boot money to Australians. Man of the Match has to be Emil Todorow who produced his best batting of the season, along with a good bowling spell, to make it respectable. Ben Fewson is off to Sofia this week as his League side LESSA Christchurch are taking on the Bulgarian National Team, but can it be a true Bulgarian National Team without Todorow playing? Fielder of the Day is Ajmal. 4 catches and a direct-hit - one of the easier choices for the award this season.
The blog will be back in a week or two with a seasonal summary, the averages and maybe a captain's report.
ENERGY EXILES - 129 all out from 31.5 overs
H. Khan, 6-4-11-1
Ajmal, 6-2-13-0
Todorow, 6-0-23-3
Reeve, 6-0-39-0
Gopi Pala, 4-1-6-2
Amin, 3.5-0-22-3
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 116 all out from 29.1 overs
Fewson, 4
M. Vyas, 8
Prasanth Pattiyil, 0
H. Khan, 23
Amin, 31
Lefebve, 1
Ajmal, 0
Reeve, 0
Gopi Pala, 11
Todorow, 22 not out
Crossland, 0
F.O.W. - 6, 6, 16, 78, 80, 80, 80, 82, 111, 116
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