Epsom 20-20 championship - 24/5/15

Is is acceptable to congratulate your own team? If so, then congratulations to Nomads on winning the inaugural Epsom 20-20 championship, admirably well organised by Richard and his resurgent Old Leagonians side at Epsom cc last Sunday.
In a 3-cornered contest, Nomads first beat our old friends the Leagonians by 44 runs.  We notched up 157 for 3 off the full 20 with Mahesh returning to form with a sparkling 43. A measure of how well Mahesh played is that the fielding skipper asked his field to move back 10 yards when Mahesh was on strike and come up 10 when Gul - who is in great form - was facing. The opening stand of 76 was our largest of the season so far. Mark then hit a pugnacious 41, improvising and hitting some cracking blows through Mid-Wicket amongst his 6 boundaries, to keep up the momentum. Late hitting from Riaz was the icing on the cake. Rob Lowndes was the pick of the bowlers for Leagonians.  A sensational start from Sami and Bilal reduced the hosts to around 8 for 5 before we took our feet off the pedal somewhat and, at one stage, appeared to be losing our grip in a manner reminiscent of the previous match against Wimbledon United, with Dan Parker smashing a fine 47 for the Epsom-based side.  With OLCC playing their first game for almost 4 years, Nomads experience and bowling options saw us close out a fairly comfortable victory in the end.  An enjoyable and good-humoured game.

Clapham Nomads 157 for 3 from 20 overs

M. Vyas  43
Gul  24
M. Bradshaw  41
 R. Khan  17 not out
D. Gunawardena  0 not out
Did not bat; - Abdul Khan, N. Lefebve, Bilal, Sami, E. Todorow, J. Crossland
F.O.W. - 76, 122, 152

Old Leagonians 113 for 8 from 20 overs (D. Parker 47 not out)

Nomads' bowling

Sami  4-1-13-4
Bilal  4-1-14-2
E. Todorow  4-0-23-1
Abdul Khan  4-0-36-0
R. Khan  4-0-24-1

Clapham Nomads won by 44 runs.

The next game saw the winners stay on and face Carshalton Athletic, a side full of experience and tactical awareness who enjoy a "Sunday afternoon knockabout" and "banter."  There was a bit of edge to this game but in the end even John Crossland, who had been sceptical about the tournament, said it had converted him to the charms of the 20-20 format.
With the exception of opener "Clown" Curtis who caused early damage with his 2-18 off the full 4 overs, all Athletic's varied and useful bowlers went for at least 5.5 per over.  Nomads turning out a consistent batting display with Mark (again) doing a valuable job with 33 as did Gul with an unbeaten 36.  Riaz (a player born for the 20-20 format) starred here with a riproaring 50.
Our debutant paceman Bilal had to leave and I was unsure whether our total of 145 for 5 would be enough, particularly when star opening bowler Sami was a touch expensive, but Riaz was steady and Emil (4 an over) and Abdul (5 an over) bowled very tidily in an innings where two of Carshalton's youngsters seemed to let it slide around overs 8 to 11 and suddenly found themselves needing 9 an over (a similar situation to the one we had to defend both 2 hours previously and 1 week previously.)
Athletic kept this rate up for a while but a splendid catch low down by Mark blunted their momentum somewhat; nevertheless this looked set to go the wire with Nomads running out of proven front-line bowling options.  In the event it came down to Darwin to bowl the final over with Carshalton requiring (?) 6.  Darwin kept his head and mixed his deliveries up brilliantly to secure a very satisfying 2-run victory - and the championship - for Nomads.
There was a Darts-type feel to this game with several of the Athletic umpires clinging on to pint glasses as well as the usual coins, counters and bowlers' clothing.  I'm told that one of the Carshalton players was an Eric Bristow lookalike but in the end it was Double Top for the boys from inner London as skipper Emil "The Power" Todorow took over the oche for a victory celebration.

Clapham Nomads 145 for 5 from 20 overs

D. Gunawardena  8
Abdul Khan  11
M. Bradshaw  33
R. Khan  50
Gul  not out 36
M. Vyas  2
N. Lefebve not out 2
Did not bat; - Sami, E. Todorow, J. Crossland
F. O. W. - 8, 27, 84, 132, 139

Carshalton Athletic 143 for 5 from 20 overs

Nomads' bowling

Sami  4-0-39-0
R. Khan  4-0-24-1
E. Todorow  4-0-16-1
Abdul Khan  4-0-20-1
Gul  2-0-24-0
D. Gunawardena  2-0-16-1

Clapham Nomads won by 2 runs
In the final game, Carshalton beat Leagonians by 7 wickets in a 10-over a side contest to clinch 2nd place.
A thoroughly memorable afternoon and thanks again to Richard for organising it.

Man of the Tournament was very close.  In the end Riaz, just shades it for his crucial 50 in the deciding match and steady bowling throughout.  Mark was the top run scorer overall with 74 and his vital catch against Carshalton puts him very close and wins him Fielder of the Tournament.

Final standings;
1. Clapham Nomads - Played 2 Won 2 Points 4
2. Carshalton Athletic - Played 2 Won 1 Points 2
3. Old Leagonians  -  Played 2 Won 0 Points 0.