It was a full-strength Nomads side that made the long journey to take on a slightly-depleted Barnes Occasional at their Sandy Lane ground in Ham. This is growing on me as a venue. The allotments and the historic buildings making for a bucolic scene with the snatches of pop music drifting across from Eel Pie Island bringing things up to date (give or take a decade or two.)
As usual, Nomads' skipper Emil Todorow won the toss and he controversially inserted the home side. The captain explained that this gave him 2 options; forcing a ruthless victory or hanging on grimly for the draw in this time game.
The pitch nearer the river was used which was fortunate as the other pitch can be a lottery. There was still some unpredictable, mostly high, bounce on our track and Todorow yet again showed his tactical mastery by turning to his 2 quickest bowlers. Abdul, in particular, found some sharp lift at times and struck early to remove the dangerous Adam Hogg who lofted a riser straight to Hassan at Cover. Hassan soon matched this with a wicket of his own and the friends exerted relentless pressure. Wicket after wicket tumbled with barely a shot played in anger. After 16 overs the Khans had reduced Occasionals to 18 for 7 and last week's all-time low opposition score record of 23 was in danger.
For part of this time we were even short of a fielder as 5 or 6 local youngsters were lurking next to our kit. A Nomads fielder was despatched to the scene, not so much to guard our kit but more to protect the kids from touching the rank items which could probably cause cellulitis to sensitive skin. In the event, they were decent lads, more Just William than Artful Dodger. Watching the game one of them remarked; "Hmm, they're not very good. are they? Well, Clapham are OK, I suppose."
It took No. 8 Rohit Benjamin to restore some pride for Barnes. Looking correct from the word go, he took a liking to the bowling of Emil Todorow and, particularly, Riaz Khan with a series of smart boundaries flicked square-ish to Leg. With Keith Seed and last man Ollie Hogg providing able defensive support, the score passed 50 and was beginning to approach a total problematic on this pitch when Benjamin finally clipped it uppishly straight into the hands of Emil Todorow who coolly pouched an absolutely vital catch. We never doubted you for a second, Emil, even if we did lift your cap a couple of times to check it really was you.
66 all out and an early tea was taken. Emil and I were the last in and we approached the grand house next to the ground. As we opened the glass doors, we saw a lavish spread with glasses of champagne and bowls of very exotic fruit. "Ooh Barnes, you are really spoiling us," we thought; but then 3 chaps, one of them a former England footballer, appeared and politely informed us that the cricket tea was round the corner in the shed with the rusty black door. Normal service resumed but at least we were treated to the second best Oppo tea of the season so far, and Emil was fascinated by some unusual hens he saw on the way there.
Nomads had 1 hour 40 minutes plus 20 overs to knock off the 67 but Mahesh Vyas fell in the first over; bowled trying to force the awkward swing bowler O. Hogg across the line. Prasanth Pattiyil, back from his trip to Kerala, was No. 3 and he faced 2 early shouts for LBW. The majority of the fielding side participated in these appeals, somewhat "assertively", from a very wide spectrum of vantage points including the Deep Fine Leg boundary. There was just one problem though; neither of the balls would have hit the stumps.
On 13, Nomads suffered a body blow when Mark Bradshaw fell to an in-cutting beauty from Benjamin, Barnes' quickest and most dangerous bowler. Hassan and Prasanth recovered the situation steadily but, at 34, Hassan was adjudged leg before. The decision looked a trifle harsh and was hopefully not influenced by the earlier antics.
34 for 3 was potentially sticky on this pitch but Nomads had fair depth to their batting. Darwin joined Prasanth for 18 vital runs before the No. 5 was unluckily bowled by the only ball in the match to keep really low. Keith Seed had Chris Kee caught the following over. At 53 for 5, Barnes evidently considered themselves back in the hunt but, with only 13 needed to win and a good mix of blockers and hitters to come, a steady nerve was all that was needed (though Emil's catch was looking more and more important.)
Crucially, Prasanth plundered 9 from a Benjamin over before being bowled by the deceptive Seed for a match-winning 28. 5 to win and 7th-wicket pair Nick Lefebve and Abdul Khan saw Nomads home, admittedly in a rather streaky fashion, for a very enjoyable victory.
Man of the Match was Prasanth. Abdul's 4 for 8 probably looks a better stat on paper than 28 runs, but Prasanth performed an absolutely vital job in holding our response together and this was possibly his best innings for the club. Fielder of the Day (and Spellcheck may query this) was Emil Todorow for his crucial catch. To be fair, his fielding is pretty good these days.
Barnes Occasionals 66 all out from 29 overs
H. Khan 8-2-8-3
A. Khan 8-3-8-4
R. Khan 7-1-25-3
Todorow 6-1-16-0
Clapham Nomads 67 for 6 from 21.3 overs
Bradshaw 8
Vyas 0
Pattiyil 28
H. Khan 13
Darwin 8
Kee 0
Lefebve 1 not out
A. Khan 4 not out
Did not bat; R. Khan, Todorow, Crossland
F.O.W. - 1, 13, 34, 52, 53, 62
Clapham Nomads won by 4 wickets
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