It looked tough for the Nomads yesterday as we got up at the crack of dawn and made the long journey for an 11:30 start against India Legends - a team who have only lost once this season - without our two best players, Hasan and Zia, It got even better when skipper Emil Todorow won the toss and promptly inserted the home side; in 79 degree heat.
There were a couple of silver linings; we were playing at Bromley Common cc, an excellent ground, and the only team to beat the Legends so far this season was ....Clapham Nomads (way back in Mid-Summer.)
Against a strong India line-up all the bowlers did well - with, strangely, the two quickest bowlers, Zaman and Abbas, going uphill. Sami also put a lot of effort into his long new ball spell. The highlight though was one of the finest collective catching performances ever produced by a Nomads team. The first 6 wickets were all caught, with keeper John Crossland snapping up a brace to celebrate his xxth birthday, and the first 4 outfield catches just got better and better. First, a lifter from Zaman was cut uppishly to Deep Point where Abdul made no mistake. Then a very thick outside edge off Sami swirled and spun its way to Backward Point where Darwin held it smartly. The highlights were the third and fourth, both taken low by KK at Shortish Third Man; the second of these was an absolute screamer of a diving effort, probably in the top half-dozen of all-time Nomads catches. Drinks were gratefully accepted with the Legends on 73 for 6. There was a feeling that they would bat all the way down and a recovery did follow to around 115 before KK produced a double strike with the only bowled of the innings followed in the same over by another sharp low catch by Abbas at Deep Gully. I could have watched this quality cricket all day from my vantage point in the shade but I suddenly realised it was 130 for 8 and I had to put our tea out. Unfortunately I missed 2 wickets from the evergreen Emil Todorow; both catches of course with KK pouching a skied effort for his third catch of the innings. A slight wag of the tail could not prevent Nomads from dismissing a strong Legends line-up for 163 with 4 overs unused. A superb, crucial effort in the field. On an average to good day, we would probably only have taken 6 or 7 of these 9 catches and could have been facing 200.
There was still a lot of work for Nomads, missing Hasan and Zia, and on a track which, surprisingly for a ground which won the Kent Premier League Groundsmanship award a couple of years back, was giving considerable help to the bowlers with both high and low bounce.
Mahesh and Abdul started grittily against an awkward new ball attack and saw off some of the shine. Mahesh fell unluckily played on in the 6th over and Abdul was run out shortly afterwards and hopes were low at 19 for 2. We were fortunate in having at No. 4 Rafi, possibly Nomads' most talented player of all time. He doesn't play much cricket these days and failed to connect with some giant heaves early on but, once he had survived three overs, he began to hit it with brutal force and dominated a partnership of 64 with Darwin, who was playing a responsible hand. In an effort to break this threatening stand, Legends' skipper brought back the young opener but Rafi took him for 18 in an over with such powerful straight hits that, as the umpire at the bowler's end, I started looking around for a helmet.
Drinks came at the wrong time and Rafi fell shortly afterwards, caught by a well-placed fielder on the fence at Deep Long-On. Riaz soon followed him back to the pavilion and we were back in trouble at 84 for 4.
We were blessed to have 2 players in Darwin and KK who have hit top form at just the right time. The pair played out a fantastic, match-winning stand of 83. KK in particular looked unshiftable and played a series of fine shots, milking the empty spaces on the leg side almost at will, while Darwin, who had been out there a long time in the heat, deployed his trademark forcing shots through the covers to great effect and did well to keep calm despite continual field changes and a decidedly slow over rate. The partnership had John raving; "This was proper batting, I mean, it was like watching proper players."
With the scores level, KK sealed the victory with a cracking leg-side drive past Mid-Wicket to bring up his second successive half-century.
A great all-round performance by Nomads to beat a tough side at their own fortress. Had we lost that would probably have been it for the season but it now seems we will have another match or even two.
India Legends 163 all out from 36.1 overs
Nomads bowling;
Sami 8-0-31-1
Zaman 8-1-44-4
KK 8-0-34-2
Abbas 8-2-39-1
Emil 4.1-0-18-2
Catches; KK - 3
John - 2
Abdul - 2
Abbas - 1
Darwin - 1
Clapham Nomads 167 for 4 from 32.5 overs
Mahesh 1
Abdul 13
Darwin 42 not out
Rafi 44
Riaz 1
KK 51 not out
Did not bat; Abbas, Sami, Zaman, Emil (capt), John (wkt)
F.O.W. - 8, 19, 83, 84
Clapham Nomads won by 6 wickets
Man of the Match - KK
Fielder of the Day - KK
