A late withdrawal meant Nomads were one short for the long and demanding trip to Burgh Heath.
Skipper Todorow inserted the home side and Nomads produced a pretty decent bowling and fielding performance to restrict Burgh to 139 all out - the lowest total they have made against us. Hassan and Abbas opened and kept it steady at just below 4 an over. There were 2 wickets apiece for our new ball pairing. It was good to have Zia back and he provided additional cutting edge and took a wicket. The pick of the bowlers were the previous week's star, Zeeshan, with a tight 1 for 19 off his 7, and the evergreen captain with an excellent 3 for 19. One of the home batsmen did get after Emil a bit but, inevitably, he tried it once too often and was beautifully caught by Abbas on the mid-wicket boundary. Todorow modestly denied that he had set the trap. There was a stumping for John Crossland who also combined well with Hassan to engineer a run out. Nomads munched their tea with at least a chance.
A fine opening stand of 43 between Mahesh Vyas and Abdul Khan appeared to put the visitors in the driving seat before 2 quick wickets pegged us back. Abdul and Riaz continued the good work before Abdul was bowled by the deadly Sharo for a top-scoring 38. Riaz, as is his custom, hit a big six and Hassan chipped in with a steady knock. At one stage we were 99 for 3 with Riaz and Hassan in the middle, just about up with the rate and with some batting to come. We were clear favourites at this point.
Unfortunately the Surrey side came back at us and reduced us to 119 for 8 but Zeeshan was looking useful, supported by stout defending from last man John Crossland. The pair took it up to 134 at the end of the penultimate over. 6 were needed to win with Zeeshan to face. Unfortunately, he tried to do it in one blow on the second ball and was bowled leaving Nomads just 5 short.
Still, a good performance. The scorebook comment by John Crossland speaks volumes - he is not normally generous to his own side in defeat. "Great game. We nearly won it. Might have done with 11 men."
Man of the Match was top-scorer Abdul. Fielder of the Day was Abbas.
Burgh Heath - 139 all out in 32.5 overs.
Nomads' bowling
H. Khan 7-0-24-2
Abbas Khan 7-0-28-2
Zeeshan 7-0-19-1
Zia 5-0-39-1
E. Todorow 4.5-0-19-3
R. Khan 2-0-5-0
Clapham Nomads - 134 all out in 34.2 overs
M. Vyas 14
Abdul Khan 38
D. Gunawardena 0
R. Khan 26
H. Khan 13
Zia 4
Zeeshan 17
Abbas Khan 3
E. Todorow (capt) 3
J. Crossland (wkt) not out 0
F.O.W. - 43, 43, 67, 99, 106, 114, 117, 119, 134
Clapham Nomads lost by 5 runs.
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