Clapham Nomads v Octopus cc - 8/7/18

Nomads "entertained" new opponents Octopus cc an another scorching afternoon at Farm Road, Morden.
There was immediate controversy as Nomads' imposing but trustworthy skipper, Emil Todorow, stated that he felt he might have been diddled out of his usual winning toss by the opposing captain. To summarise his version; Emil tossed, Oppo skipper called heads, it landed on tails, Emil said "we'll bat", Oppo skipper said "no, I called tails, you called heads". This seems strange as the tosser... sorry, the person who tosses the coin, never calls. Anyway Emil, with his love of diplomacy and consensus, let it go and ceded a  huge advantage as Nomads, on average at least 10 years per man older than the opponents, took to the field under the baking Morden sun.
Fortunately Octopus did not really gain from this as they only lasted 27 overs so exhaustion was staved off for our boys.
It was Emil himself who exacted some clinical revenge very early on with what I'm told (by Emil) was an excellent off-cutter. The 2nd wicket partnership looked assured and began to smack it about but Hasan struck with another beauty to peg back the stumps - about 40 for 2. The best batting of the match followed with an excellent partnership for the 3rd wicket - fluent and aggressive strokeplay to all parts of the ground which had me preparing my apologies for booking the fixture and anticipating a record score of close to 300. It took Sami to change the course of the game; the breakthrough - on 130 - was fortunate as it came off the batsman's heel onto the stumps but Sami followed this up with a further 4 wickets - quickish and straight with a low trajectory and making use of some irregular bounce from the Bottom End. We witnessed something I have never seen before in about 500 games of Sunday cricket; 2 LBW decisions in successive balls. I mentioned this to the opposition and they said; "Yes, we need to send him back to Not Out School." That is somewhere I like the sound of but I think that I, like several other Nomads umpires, probably have their diploma certificate already.
In the context of this, I think Octopus possibly expected some generosity from Nomads umpires - it was easy to tell they had not played us before.
Anyway, 2 quick wickets from Zia sealed the Away side's collapse from 130 for 2 to 164 all out from only about 27 overs.
With probably our strongest batting line-up, a parched outfield and a reasonable track with some low bounce, Nomads seemed to be in with a fair chance but it was clear from Octopus's early batting that they were likely to have some decent bowlers.
So it proved as Mahesh was bowled Leg Stump to a sharp inswinger in the first over. Very solid and sensible batting from Darwin and Riaz consolidated our position and they were still there at the first drinks break after 12 overs with the score about 40 for 1. Skipper Todorow began to call for shots and Riaz fell for a fine 30. Javed changed the pace of the innings with a towering 6 before falling for 10. Darwin and KK ruthlessly exploited the vast playing area and picked out the gaps behind square on the leg side. Octopus began to show the "appealing side" of their personalities with some decidedly optimistic shouts - an inaudible "edge" from KK and a fantasy stumping where Darwin's back foot had not shifted from its usual position of well inside the crease. KK fell for a good 25 or 30 but Nomads' order had a cast iron look with Zia and Hasan the next two.
The away side's discipline was beginning to crumble and a close-ish stumping call against Darwin - a VAR shout at best - was turned down and this resulted in comments such as "Can't you see?" and "You can't see."  I could have responded appropriately with "Ner, ner, ner, ner, ner, you can't bat" but I opted for the less childish option of stalking off in a huff. Fortunately the replacement umpire gave nothing either - in fact there was nothing that could really have been given out in the whole innings.
Nomads were up with the required rate by now and, although Darwin fell 5 short of a second successive half century, we had the luxury of Hasan at No. 7 and he and Zia stroked us home to a comfortable and well-deserved victory.
I stated on Facebook that we won by 6 wickets but the margin was, in fact, 5 wickets. Perhaps I can adopt the tone of sporting triumphalism that is sweeping the nation and say that it felt more like a 6-wicket victory.


Clapham Nomads won by 5 wickets.

Man of the Match - Sami
Fielder of the Day - Darwin

Nomads' line-up - Mahesh, Darwin, Riaz, Javed, KK, Zia, Hasan, Abbas, Sami, Emil (capt), John (wkt).  12th Man - Nick.

UPDATE -

Octopus XI 163 all out in 26.3 overs

Nomads's bowling

Hasan  7-1-28-1
Emil  5-0-38-1
Sami  7-0-47-5
Abbas  6.3-0-48-1
Zia  1-1-0-2

Clapham Nomads 166 for 5 in 33.2 overs

Mahesh  0
Darwin 45
Riaz  31
Javed  11
KK  31
Zia  not out 26
Hasan  not out 4
Did not bat: Abbas, Sami, Emil (cpt), John (wkt)
F.O.W. - 0, 61, 76, 115, 151