Nomads got their stop-start season back on track in a damp Dulwich with a splendid victory against talented opponents.
This match didn't seem likely to be completed at any point in the previous few days, and certainly not when we saw the dark grey sky and lightning flashes hovering around over Dulwich Village.
We made a token effort to start a 30-over game (strangely, the Home side wanted 40 overs,) and tight bowling from Hassan Khan and Emil Todorow restricted Streatham to around 10 for 0 when heavy rain forced us off after 5 overs. A 20-minute break under the trees was followed by a Groundhog Day repetition of the above and we found ourselves under the trees again with the score on 20 for 0 after 10 overs. The openers were complete opposites in every respect; age, height, approach - the younger guy attempted to pull every Todorow ball over square leg for 6 (Emil finished with figures of 6 runs off 6 overs which gives an idea how successful this ploy was.) The other fellow - at least 45 years older than his partner - nudged and nurdled for quick singles and this proved quite profitable as the mismatched pair had a surprisingly good understanding. The attacking player did hit one stunning 4 back over Hassan's head - a rare sight - which kept the field back.
Terry Bruce-Mills was first change and bowled tight slow-medium to help restrict the score to around 45 at the 18-over mark. With only 12 overs to go, there were murmurs of discontent from the remainder of the Streatham batting line-up, which were answered angrily by the older opener. Perhaps this affected his concentration because he was bowled shortly afterwards by Andrew West; the only ball in the match that kept a bit low.
This wicket looked counter-productive for a while as new man Kannan helped launch a charge. For 6 or 7 overs, Streatham were completely on top with Andrew West and pacy newcomer Rashid Ahmed taking particular punishment. A heap of runs came behind square off Rashid - possibly a field placing issue here.
Nomads' ground-fielding was good throughout, with Terry Bruce-Mills particularly impressive, but several catches went down as the Home side appeared to be heading for something like 180-190.
Finally, a chance was snapped up, a high quality diving catch from Hassan, and Streatham moved down a gear or two in the closing overs with Nomads a tad relieved only to have conceded 150 by the close.
This did appear on paper to be one of the more threadbare Nomads batting line-ups and one sensed that a lot would rest on the admittedly broad shoulders of Mark Bradshaw and Hassan Khan.
An early wicket was just what was not required but Mahesh Vyas holed out to short mid-wicket in the 3rd over to bring Rashid out to join Mark Bradshaw in the middle. The newcomer, yet another Riaz Khan discovery, had not played with a requlation cricket ball or on a grass strip before. It was perhaps fortunate that this was such a good track but Rashid showed an excellent eye and some near-textbook shots. A good second wicket stand took shape with excellent running and strike rotation; a sprinkling of 1s and 2s in every over and five 4s for Rashid in a pretty rapid 33 before he fell to the impressive 14-year-old quickie Pentycross - an easy name to remember should he progress to greater things.
62 for 2 and Hassan Khan joined Bradshaw in what looked a crucial phase of the game. Streatham had brought on 2nd changer Kannan, a very tricky customer to score 5 an over off, with great variation of pace, trajectory and movement. When Kannan claimed the wicket of Hassan with only 79 on the board the wound appeared mortal.
No. 5 Darwin had showed promise with the bat but had never really gone beyond the mid-20s for Nomads. Below him in the order there was no-one you could rely on to score at 5 an over for too long. Scorer John Crossland began to despair; "We've had it. We can't win this. We've got no Zia or Riaz." An early 6 from Darwin was an eye-opener but Crossland soon began to repeat his mantra, much to the amusement of the crowd of home fans.
Mark Bradshaw had been keeping Nomads' run rate healthy with 2s all around the wicket. Suddenly he launched a beautiful straight drive back over the bowler's head; although it dropped a couple of millimetres short of the rope, it was a sign that he was in The Zone. The partnership gelled and it was noticeable how often a boundary was taken from one of the first two balls of an over to ease the pressure. The 100 came up in fine time, as did the 50 partnership at 129. The required rate remained steady at just over 5. A truly exciting contest was building up but scorer Crossland noticed that Streatham's scorebook was slipping behind his own; first by 1, then by 2 and, with 2 overs to go, by 4. A quick discussion resulted in the home side insisting that we go with their, lower, score. I'm not too sure about the rights and wrongs of that (....well I am actually, but the way our guys were batting, who cared?)
12 more runs was agreed as the target with 12 balls to go, and then 3 were needed off the final over, to be delivered by Kannan, the pick of the bowlers. Two dot balls clenched buttocks but Darwin pushed 2 off the third ball to level the scores. Darwin hit the 4th ball uppishly. A fielder swooped for the chance as the batsmen crossed. Just for a second there was confusion but then it became clear that the ball had been grounded, the total had been passed, and Nomads had recorded one of our most exciting victories.
Man of the Match is Mark Bradshaw for marshalling our reply. His 56 not out was probably his finest and quickest innings of the season. His versatility was shown in that he only hit one of his trademark off-side 4s. Other areas produced a rich yield. Plenty of other fine performances with a Nomads-best 43 not out from Darwin and a miserly 6-1-6-0 from Emil, despite him being the target of repeated attempts to slog him over the leg side into Lewisham.
Fielder of the Day would have been Terry for his groundwork but he did put down a couple of chances. I will award it to Andrew West, who not only failed to swear at the skipper as he was moved regularly around the field, but also produced an extraordinary, balletic, Richter Scale-busting diving stop right on the line and, remarkably, didn't injure himself in the process. Unfortunately he didn't jump up and return the ball all in the same movement. Had he done so, he would have been instantly awarded Player of the Season, along with a Hospital bed.
Thanks to the Home Side for staging the contest and all credit to their players who did a splendid job getting the covers on and off. It was a pleasure to play on a covered pitch.
Streatham & Marlborough - 150 for 2 from 30 overs
H. Khan 6-1-15-0
E. Todorow 6-1-6-0
T. Bruce-Mills 4-0-15-0
A. West 6-0-46-1
R. Ahmed 6-0-44-1
Darwin 2-0-13-0
Clapham Nomads - 151 for 3 from 29.4 overs
M. Bradshaw - 56 not out
M. Vyas - 2
R. Ahmed - 33
H. Khan - 7
Darwin - 43 not out
Did not bat; N.Lefebve, E. Todorow, J. Crossland, T. Bruce-Mills, A. West
F.O.W. - 15, 62, 79
Clapham Nomads won by 7 wickets
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