Southall Dragons v Clapham Nomads - 3/9/17

After our scheduled game against Surbiton Imperials was called off, we were pleased to secure an away fixture at the Perivale home of the Southall Dragons.
Both John Crossland and I remembered playing at this venue - the Ealing Central Sports Ground - for Open University sometime in the early 1990s and it was an ideal venue at which to represent the OU as the roar of traffic from the neighbouring A40 drowned out the constructive criticism dealt out by skipper Dave Hunter and other team-mates such as Micky and Benny.
Anyway, enough nostalgia. Nomads took a 12-man squad up there and looked strong in batting. The Dragons are a talented and friendly side with some excellent players.
Nomads batted but came up against a fine opening bowler in Jasmeet who had 2 main deliveries; the bullet speared in from a wide angle towards leg stump and the crafty slower ball that moves away off the pitch.  Both Mahesh and No. 4 Javed were undone by the first of these while Darwin unfortunately holed out into the covers off the other opener Raj. Nomads were in deep trouble at 15 for 3.  Enter 2 men who have been absolute stars this season; Hassan and Zia. They steered Nomads sensibly up to 45 before the splendidly named Guv had Zia caught. Riaz was No. 6 and he is a man who, if he survives his first 2 or 3 overs, can cause havoc. We needed this to be one of those days.  He certainly obliged with a massively entertaining 49 including an enormous straight 6 right out of the ground. I was waiting anxiously for the tinkle of glass and screech of brakes from the A40 when the ball sailed over the trees, but I think the ball might actually have got closer to the A4. (2 miles away).
When Jasmeet returned for his second spell (his last 2 overs), I felt that, if Hassan and Riaz survived it, we would have a decent chance. Unfortunately, Hassan got hold of a rare half-volley but it went hard and low in the air straight to Cover. 89 for 5.
Riaz kept up the entertainment but Faseeh and Abbas didn't last too long. Luckily he found a partner in No. 9 Sami who played a series of sensible groundshots for 24. Dragons' usual opening bowler "Da Man" arrived late but accounted for both Riaz - 1 short of a  fifty - and Sami in the same over. On the final ball of the over he bowled Emil off the inside edge leaving No. 11 John Crossland frustrated on 0 not out without facing a ball.  Emil was hard on himself over this dismissal and even made whispers about retirement at some point - probably 20 years time, but there is no disgrace in being done first ball by an opening bowler with a straight one, especially as this is not the best "seeing" ground with its trees on the boundary and no sightscreen.
Nomads finished on 144 all out and had failed to use 3 of the 30 overs.  Could this be crucial?
There was a quick turn-around as tea wasn't ready yet and, for possibly the only time in the match, Nomads got their noses in front when a fine bit of bowling from Zia accounted for No. 2 with the score on 12.  This was, however, followed by a remorseless stand, full of good batting, between Robbie and Yas. Tea was taken on about 60 for 1 but this failed to disrupt their concentration and, as the score passed 100, a 9-wicket defeat looked possible.  3 quick wickets from Hassan, including an excellent catch on the boundary from Zia to dismiss Robbie for 64, made it respectable and then a further 2 men fell. With Dragons on 128 for 6 and the left-handed No. 8 not looking immediately assured, there appeared to be just a sniff.  The West London side had good depth to their batting though and they steered the hosts home with the loss of just one further wicket, despite tight and pacy bowling from Faseeh near the end.
It was an enjoyable game and the defeat was not a disgrace. On the day, Dragons had the best bowler and the best batsman and this proved crucial.

Clapham Nomads  144 all out from 27 overs.

Mahesh  6
Darwin  0
Hassan  22
Javed  0
Zia  15
Riaz  49
Faseeh  0
Abbas  4
Sami  24
Emil (capt) 0
John (wkt)  not out 0

F.O.W. - 7, 7, 15, 45, 89, 91, 96, 140, 144, 144

Southall Dragons  145 for 7 from 26.2 overs.

Nomads' bowling

Sami  5-0-30-1
Zia  6-0-27-1
Abbas  4.2-0-27-0
Hassan  6-0-31-3
Faseeh  5-0-18-2

Nomads lost by 3 wickets.

Man of the Match. Hassan came very close with a useful 22 and 3 wickets which dragged us back into the game. However, in a low-scoring game, Riaz provided some vital and very entertaining batting and gets the nod.
Fielder of the Day - The most consistent ground-fielder was possibly Faseeh, but Zia's excellent catch to remove the top scorer wins him the vote.

Nomads have now played 13, won 8, drawn 1 and lost 4. Our best season was 2001 when we won 10 and lost 4, so we have a chance of of equalling this if we win our last 2 games. Next up are new opponents - The Gentlemen of Hampstead - at home on Sunday 10th.