Nomads v Old Leagonians - 6/9/09 - Report

Sunday's match against Old Leagonians was overshadowed by the very recent death from cancer, at the age of 43, of one of Old Leagonians' long-standing players who had played against us in our only previous encounter 2 years ago.
Both sides observed a very moving minute's silence before the start, and there was a somewhat subdued atmosphere as the game began. One man who wasn't subdued was Hassan Khan who found the edge with his first ball, but the chance went down.
At the other end, Ajmal needed 2 wickets to beat Emil Todorow's club record of 32 wickets in a season and, despite starting a little waywardly, he soon had one of them. There was a wicket apiece for the opening pair who were both rested on the 10-over mark with the score on 25 for 2.
Skipper Todorow replaced Hassan at the Bypass End, hoping for some of the luck that has deserted him lately. The pitch was another of Merton Council's eccentric creations with a more pronounced slope across the pitch than I have ever seen before. There was a bit of uneven bounce but it was well within the spectrum of acceptability and, after all, Lord's has a slope too.
There is no better Nomads bowler at seeking out the snakes than Gideon Reeve and he was quickly at it again, using the slope to claim one scalp and getting low-ish bounce for another. At drinks, Reeve had 3 for 8 from his 4 overs and Leagonians were in difficulty at 48 for 5. Reeve was taken off at this stage, purely to give another high-class Medium Pacer, Gopi, a bowl. The man from Hyderabad didn't disappoint. There was a variation every ball; the slower one, the big off-spinner, the flat one. The only one he didn't produce - to the disappointment of his fans - was the bouncer. Gopi chopped up the tail like a Master Butcher with 3 for 5 in 3 overs; one man fell to a lethal leg-stump slower ball and another deflected it off both his feet before it rolled back onto the stumps.
There was a well-deserved wicket for Todorow to leave Leagonians looking into the abyss of 52 for 9. A brief flurry followed and the skipper sportingly brought Ajmal back on to have another crack at his record. The 5th ball was skied and came down like a meteorite. Thankfully Hassan Khan was under it and made no mistake, giving Ajmal his record 33rd wicket - a great achievement.
The target was 65 and surely this would be no problem, even for a line-up that was missing Mark Bradshaw, Niall McConnell, Amin and Jim Joyce. Bad batting, good bowling, pitch deterioration; it would have to be all 3 for the Nomads to fail. The opening bowler Rob Lowndes looked as likely as anyone to cause problems. He maintained a good length and found some sideways movement but little irregular bounce. He did have Ben Fewson caught and bowled for 8 in his second over, but the 16 runs already on the board had lengthened the odds against a Nomads defeat from possibly 20-1 to more like 100-1. Mahesh Vyas continued his excellent recent form with three 4s in the following over and survived a very confident LBW shout from Lowndes (the ball struck the pad just outside the line.) Prasanth provided solid support before Lowndes got his man, bowling Vyas with the score on 41.
A double bowling change saw Jordan keeping it tight but No. 4 Hassan Khan got after Stiker with three 4s before the bowler took his revenge, having our star all-rounder caught behind with the score on 63. Two to win but when No. 5 Darwin was out second ball, scorer John Crossland could contain himself no longer; "I knew it. Same old Nomads. We're going to mess it up." He shook his head in disgust (or was there just a hint of glee? Surely not.)
Fortunately Nomads' lower order contains many battle-hardened individuals, at least some of whom are capable of scoring 2 runs, and Ajmal quickly sealed the victory.
As it was only 5 o'clock, an 11-overs-a-side beer match was agreed on, to the disgust of John Crossland. "I hate beer matches," he said, with as much conviction the 20th time as the first. At least it was a rare chance for John to display his left-arm Chinamen and it was a very exciting game with Nomads winning on the last ball amidst chaotic scenes as Leagonians tried to run 4 to Emil Todorow at mid-off. They failed of course and Nomads won by 1 run in one of the best beer matches we have played. Even John admitted the last 2 overs were exciting.
Man of the Match was Gideon Reeve who tore through Old Leagonians' middle order. Fielder of the Day was Hassan Khan with his smart catch to help Ajmal to his record.

OLD LEAGONIANS - 64 all out in 24.5 overs

H. Khan - 5-0-12-1
Ajmal - 5.5-1-11-2
Todorow - 7-2-24-1
Reeve - 4-1-8-3
Gopi - 3-2-5-3

CLAPHAM NOMADS - 65 for 4 in 10.5 overs

Fewson, 8
M.Vyas, 22
Prasanth, 7 not out
H. Khan, 17
Darwin, 0
Ajmal, 2 not out

F.O.W. - 16, 41, 63, 63