Wimbledon United v Clapham Nomads - 2/6/13

Nomads took 13 to Wimbledon United's pleasant Cottenham Park ground including new man Adam Paz, 12th Man Andrew West and scorer John Crossland.
Nomads won the toss and there was immediate controversy as skipper Todorow was ordered to bat by Crossland.  There were a few murmurs of agreement from the rest of us, after all we have hardly sparkled batting second so far this summer.
The wisdom of batting looked in doubt almost immediately as United paceman Peter Brown, "The Southfields Express", tore down the hill and, just like 2 weeks ago, found the outside edge of Gul's bat.  The ball headed for the slip cordon but this time went to ground; a pivotal moment.
Gul and Mahesh Vyas batted on and did a fine job to see off the new ball shine but, at 23 in the 10th over, 1st Change Samad slipped in a borderline wide and Vyas chopped it straight up to Short Cover.
No. 3 Prasanth Pattiyil looked in fine form but was surprised by a a leg-side full toss which he clipped round the corner into the hands of a waiting fielder.  Even worse was to follow as Alex served up a juicy Long Hop to Hassan Khan.  Normally 118 118 would soon be giving out glaziers' numbers but this one was pulled straight down Square Leg's throat.  United had probably only bowled 4 or 5 bad balls and 3 of them had got wickets.  Alex then produced his best in the next over; a good length ball that did a bit off the pitch and clattered Darwin's stumps.  43 for 4 and our good early work was down the pan.  It looked like a 5 o'clock finish and a few of us were casting accusing glances at John.  Well, who wouldn't?
While all this had been going on, Gul had been calmly playing himself in and he now began to bat with real confidence, giving no more chances after his early reprieve.  No. 6 Zia had said before the game that we need to bat more sensibly, bat from over to over and not take undue risks, and he put this into practice.  Gul and Zia put on a splendid 95 in around 15 overs for the 5th wicket, playing sensibly but exacting an increasingly heavy toll from the slower bowlers.  Admittedly though, Wimbledon were hampered by at least one injury.
Nomads threatened briefly to cut loose but the home side had 2 overs of Brown up their sleeves and the opener obliged by bowling Gul for a fine 41.  With 8 balls of his alloted overs to go, Brown's figures were 5.4-5-0-1, but we somehow managed 7 off his remaining deliveries.
Zia cracked on, a third 6 was the highlight, and looked in with an outside chance of a ton, but he was brilliantly run out for 81 by a 20-yard direct hit.  Nomads tailed off a touch as we slipped from 152 for 6 to 168 all out on the last ball, only taking 5 from the final 2 overs.
Given that United had made 180 for 4 against us 2 weeks before, with line-ups and batting conditions broadly similar, I made them 8-11 favourites as we tucked in to a tea which included strawberry and cream scones - this was Wimbledon after all.  This was the Opposition Tea of the Season so far, though hot pre-season favourites Caribbean Mix and Streatham & Marlborough are still to show us the contents of their larders.
Building on last week's hat-trick, Hassan looked decidedly sharp, his best bowling of the season to my eyes, and made a couple of important early breakthroughs.  Emil Todorow unselfishly put himself on up the hill.  "Bowling was tough today.  It was all shoulder," the heroic Balkan-born Medium Pacer confided later, but he helped himself to a wicket as well.  An excellent direct hit from Darwin blunted United's momentum at an important stage and their halfway total was comparable to Nomads'.
With Abdul's bowling still hampered by a shoulder injury, Nomads were not over-blessed with proven change-bowling options but former Bath University seamer Adam Paz really stepped up to the plate on his debut.  After a couple of dodgy early balls, he struck with a clean bowled at the end of his first over and never looked back.  A popular and likeable character, he was roared up the hill by Nomads' fielders who also showed the same enthusiasm with some fine groundfielding and the occasional diving stop.  Paz finished with 1 for 26 from an accurate spell at just above Medium.
For a while the asking rate hovered around 8, but a probing spell from Riaz Khan gradually pushed Nomads' noses out towards the winning post.
United had saved their opening bowlers, Brown and Rohan, for last and they looked well capable of carnage.  40 were needed off the last 2 overs and 15 of these were scored in the penultimate over with a few errors creeping into Nomads fielders who had almost forgotten how to win.  Hassan was never likely to concede 20-odd off the last over and he closed out an excellent win by 24 runs.
It felt great to finally record a win but the main thing was these fixtures were played in great spirit.  I would say Wimbledon were good value for a 21-run aggregate victory over the 2 matches.  They are a well-run club with a long history as evidenced by the honours board in their pavilion.  I'm not sure where Nomads would put an honours board like that as we don't have a proper home ground.  Maybe in John's kitchen.  The other thing we noticed was the amazing tree at the entrance to Cottenham Park.  Emil Todorow - Nomads' Mr Science since the departure of Joe Chance - judged this to be an oak and to be at least 300 years old.
Man of the Match was Zia again for a brilliant 81 and some lively pace bowling - 2 beamers notwithstanding.  Fielder of the Day was Darwin for a timely direct hit.

Clapham Nomads (168 from 35 overs) beat Wimbledon United (144 for 9 from 35 overs) by 24 runs.

M. Vyas   5
Gul   41
P. Pattiyil   7
H. Khan   0
Darwin   2
Zia   81
A. Khan   1
R. Khan   4
A. Paz   6
N. Lefebve   1
E. Todorow   1 not out.

F.O.W. - 23, 34, 40, 43, 138, 141, 152, 165, 166, 168

H. Khan  6.1-2-12-2
E. Todorow  7-0-16-1
Zia  5-0-27-3
A. Paz  7-0-26-1
R. Khan  6-0-24-2
A. Khan  3-0-24-0