Touring Theatres v Clapham Nomads - 28/7/13

Nomads roared back from their Mid-Summer break with a solid win over a pretty strong Theatres line-up.
On a dodgy pitch with some high, irregular bounce, Mahesh Vyas did a superb job to see off a hostile opening spell from Theatres paceman Seethal.  Thereafter, batting became a bit more comfortable with most players chipping in.  Hassan Khan top-scored with 42 and there was a classy 31 from new man Jim Siu.  Nomads were dismissed on the last ball of the alloted 30 overs for 180.
Hassan and Emil Todorow were amongst the wickets (when are they not?)  Theatres had several big-hitting danger men but fine catches from Hassan and Darwin prevented them really getting in to support Anchor Man Ben Trenchell.  That scourge of Lefthanders, Riaz Khan, bowled Nasif with a beauty and there was turn - and a wicket - for Legspinner Jonnie Randall and also for Gul, who showed us his useful Off Breaks for the first time.  Theatres were all out for 82 to give Nomads victory by 98 runs. Man of the Match was Riaz.  Fielder of the Day was Hassan. Full report etc to follow.

Clapham Nomads 180 all out from 30 overs

M. Vyas  11
Gul   10
P. Pattiyil  13
H. Khan  42
Darwin Gunawardena  14
J. Siu  31
R. Khan  19
J. Randall  8
N. Lefebve  11 not out
E. Todorow   7
John Mason  0

F.O.W. - 12, 37, 42, 90, 98, 132, 152, 157, 178, 180

Touring Theatres 82 all out from 26.2 overs

H. Khan  6-3-23-2
E. Todorow  6-1-20-1
R. Khan  6-4-7-3
J. Randall  5-1-41-1
J. Siu  2-0-13-0
Gul  1.2-1-0-2

Clapham Nomads won by 98 runs

Barnes Occasionals v Clapham Nomads - 30/6/13

Nomads made the long journey to Barnes Occasionals' Ham Street ground with a full team.  Inserted by the home side in a time game, Nomads rattled up 235 for 6 in fine style from the full two and a half hours.    All batsmen contributed well.  Mahesh was the lowest scorer with 18 but he played his part in seeing off the pace of Rohit Benjamin and the deceptive flight and in-swing of Ollie Hogg.  From 53 for 2 when Mahesh departed, a fine stand of 80 between Darwin (46) and Prasanth (32) took shape before both were stumped in quick succession by Occasionals' keeper - bravely staning up to Benjamin.
The most entertaining batting came from Hassan Khan, a fine return to form with 51, and another thumping knock from Conrad Chandler; 3 sixes in his 44.  Barnes' veteran off-spinner Nigel Pettitt was put on at the end with the short leg-side boundary and Nomads cashed in with 30 from his 2 overs.
235 for 6 at tea had probably taken the game beyond Barnes' reach - as far as going for the win was concerned - but it gave Nomads just 1 hour plus 20 overs to dismiss an experienced batting line-up to notch our 3rd victory of the summer.  Scorer John Crossland was quick to discuss with skipper Todorow other options he might have explored.
 Hassan Khan and Emil Todorow had Barnes in plenty of trouble from the word go and reduced them to 18 for 3 in the 6th over, pretty much focusing Barnes on batting out for the draw.  There was something of a recovery to 59 for 5, led by Roger Price and Adam Hogg, but then fiery pace bowling from Abbas, supported by a fine 10-over spell from Zia and a couple of run outs had the Occasionals facing likely defeat on 75 for 9 with 11 overs for the last pair to survive.  This they did, however, with some comfort; Rohit Benjamin counter-attacking with a breezy 34 not out - mostly through the leg side - and No. 11 Ollie Hogg blocking stoutly and giving just one half-chance, which our diving Leg Slip just got a fingertip to.  So a draw it was, but Nomads were on top throughout.  I suppose that makes up for us cheekily claiming a draw the previous week after being outplayed.  There was considerable controversy in the pub afterwards with scorer John Crossland asserting that Skipper Emil Todorow should have declared when we reached 200 - thereby giving us 5 or 6 extra overs to take the 10 wickets.  Both men stood their ground stoutly and noisily.  I think the Barnes players enjoyed this "discussion" more than they enjoyed the match itself.  Man of the Match was Abbas who bowled with real passion and good pace and took 3 wickets.  He also set up 2 run outs at potentially crucial times and therefore takes the Fielder of the Day award as well.


Clapham Nomads 235 for 6 from 40 overs

M. Vyas  18
Gul  24
Darwin  46
P. Pattiyil  32
H. Khan  51
C. Chandler  44
Zia  6 not out
Abdul Khan  0 not out

F.O.W. - 33, 53, 133, 137, 228, 233

Barnes Occasionals  115 for 9 from 35 overs
Nomads Bowling;

H. Khan  7-1-17-1
E. Todorow  8-3-15-2
Zia  10-0-48-1
Abbas Khan  5-1-22-3
Abdul Khan  3-2-1-0
C. Chandler  2-0-5-0

Match Drawn