Surbiton Imperials v Clapham Nomads - 15/6/14

In our best victory of the season so far, Clapham Nomads batted superbly to achieve a formidable winning target of 195.  Four men shone particularly - see below;

Surbiton Imperials 194 for 7 from 35 overs

Nomads bowling;

H. Khan  7-3-6-2
E. Todorow  7-0-38-0
R. Khan   7-0-37-1
Abbas Khan  7-0-54-2
Gul   7-0-43-2


Clapham Nomads  198 for 3 from 33.2 overs

M. Bradshaw   not out 52
P. Pattiyil  75
Gul  14
R. Khan  24
H. Khan  not out 5
Did not bat; M. Vyas, D. Gunawardena, N. Lefebve, E. Todorow, Abbas Khan, J. Crossland

F.O.W. - 134, 150, 193

Clapham Nomads won by 7 wickets.

The 4 Star Men;

Prasanth Pattiyil recorded his highest score for the Nomads and didn't give a chance that I can recall until he was finally caught on 75.

Hassan Khan's bowling and figures were excellent against one of the strongest batting line-ups we will face this summer.  He conceded less than 1 per over; the next cheapest bowler went for 5.4 an over.

Mahesh Vyas took an amazing flying one-handed slip catch; the best catch I have seen in a Nomads game.

Mark Bradshaw carved out a gritty and vital unbeaten half-century, sharing in an opening stand of 134 with Prasanth and steering us home when we started to lose wickets.

FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW....

Nomads made the long journey to the excellent Colet's Ground in Thames Ditton hoping for a first victory there.  Surbiton had done very well to put a full team out, having only had 7 or 8 on the Thursday.  One of the new players opened the batting for the Home side and it was soon cleared that we had a fight on our hands as he launched an all-out assault on Emil Todorow's bowling, taking the skipper (who was playing in his 204th successive Nomads match) for over 20 from his first 2 overs.  Before this though, Hassan struck an important early blow in removing the dangerous hitter Johnny Rosenthal in the first over.
Emil judiciously replaced himself with Riaz and the run rate stabilised, mainly thanks to a quite superb bowling spell from Hassan who was bowling with great pace and accuracy, though the highlight was a massive leg break which made the batsman and keeper John Crossland gasp at its Warne-like turn.
With left-hander Siddik batting with a right-handed colleague, and continual changes to line and field placing needed, Nomads's bowlers - Hassan excepted - could do no more than damage limitation as the score chugged along at around 5.5 an over. Emil Todorow returned around the middle of the innings and did well to concede only 16 from his last 5 overs.
Surbiton had a very high-class hitter in their middle order and shots began to flow, especially to leg.  Abbas kept his head and found his reward when he clipped the outside edge of the less attacking player's bat and Mahesh Vyas swopped through the air like an eagle, scooping a breathtaking finger-tip catch an inch from the turf.  This was the best catch I have seen in any Nomads match and Mark - who has played in over 500 club games, many at a higher level - said it was the best catch in any game he has played in.
Surbiton's star man raced past 50 but some of his partners could not match his hitting and the scoring rate, after peaking at 6.5, dipped to 5.5 again.  The Super Six from May were down to Four with Abdul and Sami missing but Todorow turned to Gul and the off-spinner obliged with a steady 2 for 43 off his 7 overs.
With around 3 overs to go, the Star Man was on 90 and looked odds on for a deserved ton but he rather ran out of steam - and strike - and ended on 93 not out with Imperials closing on 194 for 7 off the full 35.  A total we would probably have settled for at any stage from about the second over onwards.
Mahesh Vyas was the obvious fielding star but John took 2 nice catches behind the sticks and didn't let much past him that I can remember.
195 seemed a fair old target as we tucked into a nice tea and watched England struggle at Lord's.  Surbiton's new players were unlikely to be the worst bowlers in the world and of course they had the awkward Siddik and also Eric (their saviour from the match in April .)
Mark Bradshaw and Prasanth Pattiyil took guard and managed 3 boundaries from Siddik's first 2 overs which was important as Siddik can be very economical if he gets on top.  Prasanth in particular played very positively and took the pressure off the run chase and the pair complemented each other very well. The speedy Faisal was negotiated safely with regular leg-side and straight hits from Prasanth, while Mark was punching it between Point and Cover for 1s and 2s at will. The scoring rate rose from around 3.5 to something up near 5 as the stand built up and drinks approached. 
The consistent, enterprising batting continued after the break; Prasanth finding the boundary practically every other over and Mark, having worked very hard for his first 25 runs (with 9 singles between 15 and 24) and survived a caught behind chance and a big leg before shout from Eric, playing with increasing authority taking regular 2s and playing some nice Straight Drives as the 100 stand came up.
Prasanth passed his previous highest for Nomads and, entering the 70s with a maiden hundred becoming a live possibility, he was aware of the need to keep the electronic scoreboard ticking and unfortunately lofted one up to Long On to depart for an excellent 75.  The stand of 134 was one of the best ever Nomads opening partnerships; possibly about the 4th biggest.
Still a bit of work to do but a rapid 2nd wicket stand ended with Gul (who had just hit a large 6) being narrowly run out.  Enter Riaz Khan who played himself in for at least a ball and then took a massive liking to the bowling of Zulfiqar; 2 sixes in one over, the second one airborne for a considerable period of time before rattling a distant shed roof, possibly somewhere in the Hampton area (oddly there was a lengthy discussion as to whether this was 4 or 6 - it should have been 8.)
This stand put on 43 in no more than 4 overs as Russell, who had bowled well against us in April, also came in for the treatment.  Riaz made 24 and Mark was no slouch himself with 15 in this partnership.  2 were now needed off 3.1 overs with 7 wickets remaining, when Riaz was caught and, although there was a shout for No. 11 John Crossland to pad up, this was in jest.
Imperials' skipper Steve Parratt came on and bowled a tidy maiden but Hassan administered the last rites in the penultimate over.
A great win for Nomads over a powerful Surbiton line-up.  Particularly fine performances from the 4 men mentioned earlier with Prasanth taking Man of the Match for his fine 75.  Mahesh Vyas takes Fielder of the Day - if only our games were filmed so we could watch that catch again.