Clapham Nomads v Wimbledon United - 11/9/16

Clapham Nomads finished their fine season with an incredible win over local rivals Wimbledon United at Cottenham Park on Sunday.
On the usual batting paradise, the Dons rattled up 231 for 4 with Anand making his first ever 50 and going on to score 112.  Pick of the rest was James Flannery with a half-century.  The only Nomads bowler to really escape punishment was KK, who opened and went for only 10 off his 7 overs - it would have been 7 runs but for a mis-field in his last over.  Abbas was unlucky when he rattled the stumps but there was a late no-ball call (Nomads reciprocated in spectacular fashion later on.)  Fielding was not great.  7 or 8 catchable chances went down, with a one-handed diving catch from keeper John Crossland one of the few bright spots.  Even without their star batsman Dave Hitchman, United have great depth to their batting, so they would probably have topped 200 even if most of the catches had been taken.
It didn't look good for Nomads who were missing their all-time highest run scorer, Hassan.  When asked at tea for his opinion of our chances of victory, John Crossland replied; "Well, we've got no ****ing chance, have we?"
A good start for Abdul and Mahesh saw us put on 48 for the first wicket, but below the required run rate.  This was soon to change with the arrival of No.3 Javed Iqbal but not before he had survived with the help of a controversial no ball call.  This was a high full toss off a spinner/slow medium bowler which may have hit Javed high on the chest and dropped onto the stumps.  It is possible the rules may have been misinterpreted by our umpire - very sorry if that was the case.  Anyway, Javed capitalised spectacularly, racing to 50 in around 20 balls which might just have broken our club fastest 50 record (50 off 20 balls by Jim Joyce on the same ground but against much worse bowling than Wimbledon produced on Sunday.) Javed stormed on to 81 and there was massive relief for United when he was brilliantly caught by a diving Peter Brown at Long On.
Nomads' chance looked to have gone, especially when Zia looked in difficulty early on, being hit in his midriff via the inside edge which produced a deafening and baffling appeal for LBW.  A ball or two later he was hit on the pad around off stump or possibly just outside and I have to say that the first of the appeals did not increase the chances of the second appeal being successful.  It was anything but plumb anyway.  I am, of course, giving the unbiased version. Wimbledon United's website www.wucc.org.uk may tell a different story.  Anyway, Zia was soon in his stride and just about matched Javed's strike rate with a 40 full of sixes.
Darwin also played really sensibly for 28 and when both he and Zia were dismissed in quick succession, we only needed 5 or 6 but the momentum was with the home side.  Brown bowled a maiden and we still needed 2 to win with 11 balls to go.  A potential Eric situation.  With KK and Safi at the crease though, the dot balls could not continue indefinitely. KK smacked it to Long On which looked to have levelled the scores and the ball was then misfielded; the resulting boundary giving Nomads a famous victory; our highest-ever successful run chase, I believe.
So Nomads finished the season with 9 wins and 7 defeats.... Sorry, 8 defeats including the 2nd game on 20-20 semi-finals day (the 12-over-a-side match.)  The last 7 weeks have been one of the best spells in the club's history with 6 wins and just 1 loss.
I'll put the scores and more detail on here when I finally get the scorebook back from John.  He is on a walking holiday in Germany at the moment - obviously in training for next season already.

MORE........

I had predicted in the previous report that Wimbledon's likeable and prolific captain, Dave Hitchman, would score a century in this game, and I'm sure - given the benign nature of the pitch - that he would have done so if he hadn't suffered a freak foot injury caused by a rusty piece of sharp metal in some woodland.  Despite Nomads discussing this at length before the game, wicketkeeper John Crossland repeatedly encouraged and congratulated United's James Flannery throughout his innings of 80 with "Well played, Dave", "Shot, Dave" and "You're going well, Dave."  At least he didn't ask James; "When's James coming in, Dave?"  Crossland did laugh off his error when it was revealed at tea and both Flannery and Hitchman did acknowledge that they are gradually morphing into one another, in terms of looks and batting ability.

YET MORE........  I am not sure if Javed's fantastic innings equalled the club record fastest 50 (20 balls by Jim Joyce) but it must have come mighty close.  My hunch is that it might have fallen a ball or 2 short as Javed did play two or possibly even three defensive shots in his innings.  The only way to find out will be to look in United's scorebook next season.  I hope we do play them next season - we can promise to use different umpires if necessary.

Wimbledon United 231 for 4 from 35 overs

Nomads' bowling;

E. Todorow 6-1-37-0
KK Khusro  7-3-10-2
Abbas Khan  7-0-54-0
Safi  5-0-34-0
Zia  5-0-52-1
R. Khan  4-0-23-1
Abdul Khan  1-0-15-0

Clapham Nomads 234 for 6 from 33.2 overs (Javed Iqbal 81)

M. Vyas  23
Abdul Khan  31
J. Iqbal  81
R. Khan  0
Zia  40
D. Gunawardena  28
KK Khusro  not out 5
Safi  not out 0
Did not bat; - Abbas Khan, E. Todorow (capt), J. Crossland (wkt)

Clapham Nomads won by 4 wickets.

Man of the Match - Javed Iqbal
Fielder of the Day - John Crossland

Old Leagonians v Clapham Nomads - 4/9/16

This was due to be 20-20 Finals Day but 2 of the teams dropped out, leaving Nomads to play the hosts, Old Leagonians, in a 35-overs-a-side contest; presumably still for the championship.
Nomads batted first by agreement on the excellent pitch at Epsom cc.
Abdul survived one of the best balls we have faced this season in the first over, from one of the Bradford brothers - a fast yorker that swung from leg, hit him on the pad in front of middle and might (just conceivably) have been sliding past off.  With the umpire's finger remaining in his pocket, Abdul celebrated his return from injury with a cracking 48.
At one stage, with Abdul receiving good support from Mahesh and Hassan, Nomads were on 87 for 2 with plenty of overs left and looked set for a possible 200.  However, some cavalier shots from the middle order, together with some great catching and groundfielding, and a five-fer for another Bradford (Lewis), found the Clapham boys in some difficulty at 134 for 9.
John Crossland then joined Emil Todorow and the veteran pair played a classic partnership.  John produced a feather-light leg glance worthy of Ranjitsinghi, while Emil smacked a resounding cut in front of point for 4 - reminiscent of Mark Bradshaw.  Inevitably there was controversy though and when Emil produced a sumptuous Cover Drive, he disregarded the fact that it had gone straight to Leagonians' best fielder.  The result; our 2 heroes were able to shake hands in mid-pitch as the bails were removed.  However, the pair had put on 17 valuable runs and there was a feeling that our 151 might just be enough.
So it proved.  Hassan struck with an early wicket - and we were told later that his victim was the Epsom side's best batsman.  The 2nd wicket pair put on quite a few but three quick dismissals reduced OLCC to 51 for 4 at the 17-over drinks break.  I had to leave at this point but I'm told by Emil that there were a few tense moments, with Leagonians' youngest player notching 30 or so, before tight bowling by Zia and Riaz at the death left the Home side needing 16 off the last over and we duly ran out winners by 11 runs, allowing Nomads skipper Emil Todorow to (figuratively speaking) lift the trophy.
Thanks to Richard and the Leagonians for hosting a fixture that we always enjoy.  They are definitely an improving side who will be even tougher opponents next season.
So with 1 game to play, Nomads have won 8 and lost 7 and, if there was a League Table, would be in the top half.

Clapham Nomads 151 all out from 32.2 overs

M. Vyas  7
Abdul Khan  48
J. Iqbal  6
H. Khan  16
R. Khan  15
Zia  5
KK Khusro  0
Safi  3
Abbas Khan  7
E. Todorow (capt)  6
J. Crossland (wkt)  not out 5

F.O.W. - 32, 52, 87, 96, 120, 120, 120, 131, 134, 151

Old Leagonians  140 for 8 from 35 overs

Nomads' bowling

H. Khan  5-0-17-1
Safi  7-1-22-1
KK Khusro  7-1-15-3
Abbas Khan  6-0-31-1
Zia  6-0-26-1
R. Khan  4-0-24-0

Clapham Nomads won by 11 runs

Man of the Match - Abdul Khan
Fielder of the Day - Sorry, I've forgotten parts of this game and I missed some of our fielding anyway (so, not awarded.) -- NL 7/10/16.