Hobgoblin Nomads beat Exiles by 5 wickets
Exiles 123 (Saad 33, Sujith 30/Niro 4-18, Rupert 2-7, Sean 1-11, Tristan 2-17)
Hobgoblin Nomads 124-5 (Rory 69, Tristan 22, Sean 9/Arijit 2-14)
After a well-earned week off, the Hobgoblin Nomads reconvened to play yet another new opposition team, The Exiles. The teamsheet read: Rory, Jack, Tristan, George, Rob, Niroshan, Sean, Ben C, Danny, Isaac and newcomer Rupert. Losing the toss, the Nomads were invited to bowl first. The conditions were cloudy, but with the threat of sunshine. Opening the bowling were Sean and Isaac, the latter opening the bowling in only his second game for the club. Both quickly assumed a tight line and length, and consistent accumulation became difficult for the opening batsmen.
In fact, the only runs coming were streaky edges through the slip and gully area, many of those evading the welcoming hands of the fielders in the office region. Fortunate edges to the boundary were helping the opposition go at just over three runs an over, but the lack of reward for such tight lines was a source of frustration for the Nomads. A well-timed cut went hurtling through the air towards Rupert who, at deepish point ran to his right and seemed to take the catch, but unfortunately his momentum caused him to drop the ball. Despair was written all over the face of the debutant, but his road to Damascus moment was yet to come...
In the tenth over, Isaac (1-29) bowled a peach of a delivery swinging away from the batsman outside off, edged into the hands of Jack at gully. From 34-1 after 10, the Nomads struck again when yet another mis-timed cut off the fiendishly accurate bowling of Sean (1-11) found its way into the willing hands of the skipper. 40-2 after 13. It was at this point that the opposition skipper named Sujith walked out to bat. He established a 57 run partnership with number two Saad which included a few dropped catches depriving Jack of a couple of wickets. This was brought to an end by Rob's catch off the bowling of the returning Tristan (2-17). Rob had earlier on just missed getting to a difficult bounce-in-the-face-breaking catch low down, and was thrilled to snare the skipper.
From 98-3 to 108-4! Nomads skipper Niro (4-18) had entered the fray, angry about dropping a catch in Tristan's previous over. The red mist accounted for leaking 10 off his first over, but not before he could take his first wicket. Number five Anupam picked a ball that pitched fullish on middle and leg and smote it hard and rising towards the air in the mid on region. Rupert, fielding at deepish mid on leapt with all his might and took the catch high up, spinning to fall and hit the ground in celebration! Thus began an amazing run of a hatrick of catches, with the third off Rupert's own bowling, taking the final wicket to end with figures of 2-7.
In between this was a ten over period where the opposition went from 108-4 in the 23rd to 123 all out in the 33rd. After an expensive first over, Niro (4-18) returned to take a further three wickets for just eight runs more, the first another catch at mid-wicket by Rupert, the next a slight turner that found a faint edge into Rory's hands. The delight on Rory's face confirmed that wicketkeepers love snapping those ones up, as was ! His fourth and final wicket was pure comedy. Isaac had brought down his friend Glenny, who upon hearing that Exiles were a man down, offered his services and strode out purposefully towards the middle. He mentioned something to the bowler about where he was going to put the ball. The ball was bowled, and looped up. The batsman looked up, licked his lips and then found himself watching the ball straight onto the base of the middle stump! Isaac was asked how much he had paid his friend. During this, Rupert (2-7) had picked up his maiden wicket with another smart catch off a leg glance by Rory, and he returned to take the final wicket, a caught and bowled. 124 to win...
Rory and Jack walked out to bat, knowing that they didn't have to break the bank to win this one for the Nomads. A circumspect start saw them quietly get to 12 off 5 overs, when disaster struck. Playing for the bounce, Jack (2) was left stuck in his crease as a ball that kept horribly low simply hit the stumps off the beleagured inside edge of his bat. Tristan came in at number three, wanting to atone for his first game duck, back on Royal Friday. And that he did, helping Rory to a 71 run partnership, before getting caught for a well crafted, patient 22. The end was in sight, 83-2 with just 41 needed off a further 15 overs.
George was next in, and found himself walking back to the pavillion after becoming involved in a run out incident. That brought Rob to the crease. Unfortunately, we were not able to see that huge frame send that ball into tomorrow, as his 'see ball, hit ball' policy left him hopelessly out of his crease to the spinner. The Nomads had gone from 83-1 to 84-4. Skipper Niro was next in to join Rory. They managed to take the game away from the Exiles, with Niro (6 not out) letting Rory take the role of 'bad cop'. Rory fell for 69, and with just 9 needed, Sean ( 9 not out/strike rate 300) nonchalantly hit two glorious boundaries, the first of which resulted in a ball change, and then a push to square leg to take it home yet again for the Hobgoblin Nomads. The juggernaut rolls on towards its South East London Derby Day fixture versus Blackheath on Bank Holiday Monday...
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