Nomads lost a remarkable match in which we had dominated almost throughout.
Excellent batting from the top 4, kicked off by a fine opening stand of 65 between Mark and Gul, with Darwin and Hassan continuing the good work, had us 103 for 2 from around 23 overs. 2 quick wickets fell but Prasanth and Nick supported Hassan with quick runs before the scoring rate tailed off slightly in the last few overs. 173 off the 35 was a good effort (Gul was the star with a swashbuckling 49) but with the Home side missing their star bowler Peter Brown it was perhaps felt that we should have taken another 15 or so in order to protect our deleted bowling line-up.
Despite an excellent and copious tea, Nomads' bowling and fielding showed plenty of energy. Hassan bowled 4 maidens in his first 6-over spell and, well supported by Sami, the scoring rate was down to 2 an over at one point. Emil Todorow, with commendable accuracy, and Abbas, with pace and hostility, both produced probably their best bowling of the season so far. With 10 overs to go, the main 4 bowlers had used up almost all their overs. However, with the 7th wicket just falling and over 90 needed at more than 9 an over, skilled captaincy from Emil seemed to have secured us the victory. We did wonder why Dave Hitchman, who scored 91 against us last season, had not appeared yet but we were told he was injured and out of form.
When Hitchman did appear, he played one of the most remarkable innings seen in a Nomads match. Nomads were relying on Gul, Prasanth and Darwin - who have not been bowling regularly - to get through most of the remaining overs and I have to say that these 3 did not bowl all that badly though possibly a bit too predictable and leg stump, but the controlled hitting that Hitchman showed was different class. He just kept finding the boundary in an arc between Long Off and Deep Backward Square and just kept notching the required 9 or 10 runs every over, with the occasional bigger over thrown in. Incredibly frustrating for the Nomads. He received excellent support from his partner and, even when the partner was beautifully caught in the deep by Hassan, Hitchman's momentum could not be halted (2 difficult chances went down) and he finished off with 2 successive sixes to wrap things up with 8 balls to spare.
Sorry this report is a bit stilted but I am trying to type it in an internet cafe and the keyboard is useless.
Man of the Match was Hassan for 33 useful runs and almost bowling United out of the game with figures of 6.4-0-16-0 before injuring his shoulder in a valiant diving attempt to catch Hitchman which would have won the game for us, and being unable to complete his overs as a result. He also wins Fielder of the Day for this and the catch that he did take.
Quote of the Day - "Emil Todorow, no Usain Bolt even he would admit." Wimbledon United's match report. Quite so, but would Usain's body stand up to 220 successive appearances for Nomads, and would he beat Emil at chess?
Clapham Nomads lost by 2 wickets.
Clapham Nomads 173 for 7 from 35 overs
M. Bradshaw 15
Gul 49
D. Gunawardena 27
H. Khan 33
M. Vyas 0
P. Pattiyil 19
N. Lefebve 9
E. Todorow not out 3
Abbas Khan not out 0
Did not bat - Sami, J.Crossland
F.O.W. - 65, 88, 103, 103, 142, 159, 172
Wimbledon United 174 for 8 from 33.4 overs
Nomads' bowling
Sami 7-0-36-1
H. Khan 6.4-4-16-0
E. Todorow 7-0-26-2
Abbas Khan 7-1-25-3
Gul 3-0-29-1
P. Pattiyil 2-0-20-0
D. Gunawardena 1.1-0-17-0
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