There was a welcome return for two Nomads stalwarts - Chris Kennedy and Terry Bruce-Mills - for this trip, and it was a fairly elderly side that took the field, with 6 men admitting to various ages over 47. With two of our seniors carrying leg injuries, there was a sense that this might be an opportunity for an improving Lefthanders side to record their second victory over Nomads in 15 attempts. Emil Todorow won his 5th toss out of 6 and chose to bat.
In the absence of Mark Bradshaw, Mahesh Vyas accompanied Ben Fewson out to the wicket to face a very useful opening attack comprising the wily Chris Turner, an accurate League bowler, and the pace and hostility of former Kingston cc player Declan McArdle. There was plenty of extra bounce in the pitch and McArdle found Fewson's edge twice in the first over. Our man responded with the shot of the day in the third over, thumping McArdle imperiously back over the bowler's head for 4. Vyas also did well to cope with some good bowling and a feisty atmosphere enlivened by the presence of several additional "umpires."
Turner had Fewson caught behind with a riser in the 4th over and then clean bowled Prasanth Pattiyil for 4. Three further overs elapsed and Turner had Vyas adjudged caught behind down the leg side to leave the bowler with figures of 3 for 2 and Nomads in dire difficulty at 22 for 3.
At No. 5, Riaz Khan was the last of the recognised top-order strokemakers and an awful lot seemed to depend on his survival, together with that of No. 4 Hassan Khan.
The pair played themselves in admirably on this awkward pitch, seeing off the openers and beginning to increase the tempo against change bowlers Wilkinson and Geoff "Brains" Ashburn. The arc between mid-wicket and long-on was milked for a regular diet of 2s and the occasional 4. Riaz Khan put the success of the team before the entertainment of his fans and carved out a valuable 30 before falling to Wilkinson with the score on 97, ensuring that the second innings would at least be competitive.
Chris Kennedy was unfortunate that the first ball he had faced for a while was a corker. Gopi prevented the hat-trick and then provided company for Hassan Khan who was accelerating past 50. Nick Crouch came on to bowl his incredibly slow, but dangerously accurate, floaters. Nomads are well aware of the danger of Crouch as, for some reason, he always used to dismiss John Chance. Sure enough, the crafty Lefthander achieved success in his second over, having Gopi caught for a useful 11 at fine leg from one of his deceptive, dipping full-tosses.
Hassan Khan was in top form but just needed someone to stay with him. Emil Todorow lost sight of a good-length ball from the returning McArdle and was bowled, but at last Khan found a foil in John Crossland, who kept out everything Lefthanders could throw at him with guile, footwork and sheer force of personality. Although he scored few runs, Crossland imposed himself on the game and at one stage even threatened to become the senior partner in calling urgently for a quick single off the last ball of a McArdle over to keep the strike.
H. Khan was finally dismissed for a crucial 91 with 8 balls remaining. Terry Bruce-Mills and Crossland failed to add to the score of 168 but at least they batted right up to tea, thus avoiding giving any extra overs to Lefthanders for their run chase.
We were unsure whether Lefthanders would go full-tilt for the runs or whether they would see it out for the draw. The score of 12 for 1 from the first 10 overs indicated the latter. The only wicket came from a rank leg-side long-hop from Todorow - the worst ball he bowled. Nick Crouch edged it and wicketkeeper John Crossland very nearly dropped it. This could possibly have been the worst passage of play in cricket history, but thankfully Crossland just clung on to the chance.
The left-handed Uys hit one cracking 4 to show we could take nothing for granted and when "Brains" Ashburn, after a steady start, began to play with panache and chutzpah through the leg-side, the run chase appeared to be back on.
Todorow dragged Nomads back into it by trapping Ashburn LBW for a fine 15. Terry Bruce-Mills had not bowled for over a year and, had he been rusty, we could have been in difficulty. Thankfully he floated down 6 overs of accurate slow-medium at 4 an over which was a severe dent to Lefthanders' hopes of victory. As ever, Gopi produced variation from the very first ball and looked at his best at times, having Uys caught by Lefebve at slip and then producing sharp turn at above Medium pace to bowl Barry. He was a little unlucky to be taken off after 4 overs but skipper Todorow asked Hassan Khan to return in an effort to take the 5 wickets we needed to snatch victory.
No. 4 Wilkinson and captain Chris Wells looked as dangerous as anyone and scored at 7 or 8 an over for a while, which was just about the asking rate with around 15 overs to go. Riaz Khan was perhaps not bowling quite at his best but it was he who accounted for both these batsmen. Emil Todorow snapped up a very smart catch off his toes at mid-wicket; we never doubted you for a moment, Emil...honestly. Wells was then tricked by a high R. Khan full-toss into toe-ending it straight back to the bowler.
The innings then petered out somewhat. We had 6 overs to take the final 3 wickets but McArdle, Ian and Connor are all competent players, though Hassan Khan bowled Ian in the final over to make it look rather more of a winning draw than it really was.
Man of the Match has to be Hassan Khan for his excellent 91, without which defeat would have been a real possibility. Emil Todorow and Nick Lefebve (despite injury) took nice catches and Chris Kennedy made an absolutely brilliant one-handed diving stop but I would have to award Fielder of the Day to Gopi, who must have covered miles running around the boundary rope. By the end of the game, even Kingston Lefthanders were calling him "Speedy."
CLAPHAM NOMADS - 168 for 8 from 35 overs
B. Fewson - 10
M. Vyas - 5
P. Pattiyil - 4
H. Khan - 91
R. Khan - 30
C. Kennedy - 0
G. Pala - 11
E. Todorow - 0
J. Crossland - 3 not out
T. Bruce-Mills - 0 not out
F.O.W. - 11,17,22,97,97,127,136,168
KINGSTON LEFTHANDERS - 111 for 8 from 36 overs
H. Khan 11-2-31-1
E. Todorow 8-3-18-2
T. Bruce-Mills 6-0-24-0
G. Pala 4-0-12-2
R. Khan 7-1-16-3
Match drawn
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