Bank Holiday Monday May 29th v Blackheath CC
‘Vic and Kush Engagement Party’
Match 25 NOMADS CC v BLACKHEATH CC Rectory Field, Charlton Road, Blackheath, SE7 7EZ Monday May 29th 12.00 noon 2023 – Time Game, 20 overs .
Butch shines at Blackheath on Vic’s big day!
Nomads were delighted to be invited back to “Ladies Day” at Blackheath on the now customary late-May bank holiday. As well as renewing old acquaintances, this fixture also served as a celebration of Vic Kandampully’s engagement to Khusbu, with drinks and dinner served at the club in the evening. As the newly elected Chairman of Blackheath CC, Vic had selected both XIs and was confident that each would perform strongly both on the pitch and in the bar.
Accordingly, Nomads arrived at the Rectory Field to be greeted on arrival with a choice between Pimms, prosecco, or beer! Mark Richards and Chris Page ensconced themselves by the bar and got stuck in. Meanwhile, Vic lost the toss and Blackheath skipper George Howlett elected to curtail Nomads consumption by sending us into the field.
Shaam Chakravarty and Jack Ellis formed a formidable new ball attack, but Blackheath opener Sandeep Manku was in no mood to play defensively. With a series of forceful drives and pulls, Manku launched early assault on Shaam which resulted in him being withdrawn from the attack with bowling figures looking a little bedraggled! Ellis was able to exert more control, and forced Howlett to retire hurt with a painful blow amidships, but could not stop Manku reaching an early fifty. With the score already over 70 (after 8 overs!), Vic introduced Ben Butcher and pushed the field back. After a couple of singles, Manku took the bait and launched a towering shot in the direction of long-on, where it was well held by gun fielder James Hamilton.
Spin seemed the way to go, so Charlie Moore was introduced and responded by trapping Pete Deal leg before for 20. Howlett returned to the fray, but did not last long before nicking Butcher to slip. With Sam Denlay also trapped in front by Butcher, Blackheath had fallen from 75/0 to 100/4.
Pagey (3/53) tormented Dan Rouse (23) and Billy Crone with his flight and guile, before trapping Crone LBW and persuading Rouse to nick behind. Charlie Moore (3/31) took care of Bharadwaj and Ahmed courtesy of fine catches from Marshall and Hamilton. A lively partnership between Antunes (23) and Mishra was eventually broken by Page bowling Antunes, and Ben Butcher returning to complete his fine figures of 4/28 from 11 naggingly accurate overs. Blackheath 204 all out.
After a top-notch tea, Tom Brockton and Vic Kandampully strode to the middle with confidence, only to be undone by some terrible luck. Vic pulled his calf in the first over and was forced to retire hurt, while Brockton was dismissed at the non-strikers end by a Harry Kandampully straight drive which clattered off the bowler’s shin into the stump, leaving Nomads effectively two down for not many. Happily, Mark Richards joined Harry in a long partnership of 106 for the second wicket, as the pair took a savage toll on some loose bowling from Mishra and Antunes.
It was all looking quite straightforward until Harry Kandampully, who had until that point looked in complete command, holed out to long-off off Bharadwaj’s leg spin. A vengeful Mishra took a well-judged catch. Harry had made a classy 76 filled with powerful and elegant boundaries. Howlett recalled his seamers, and was rewarded with the wickets of Hamilton, clean bowled by Ahmed, and the prize scalp of Richards for 43, well held at backward point to reduce Nomads to 155/4.
Still 50 needed, but with Jack Ellis and Charlie Moore at the crease, the Nomads captain (by now undergoing expert treatment on his calf from Alison Marshall!) still felt we were favourites to grind out a win as the pair edged Nomads past 170. That confidence was shattered as Denlay (3/19) dismissed both in the space of a couple of overs, to leave Nomads reeling at 174/7.
Ben Butcher at the dizzy heights of number 9 was met with a barrage of Blackheath ‘chat’ from his old friends and comrades, but gritted his teeth to put on 15 in the company of Chris Page, before the veteran was bowled by Dilip Bharadwaj. With Andy Marshall incapacitated, Shaam Chakravarty joined Butcher at 189/8, and together the pair inched towards the victory target, sending Kandampully hobbling into the changing rooms to put his pads back on in case of another wicket! Happily, this was not necessary, as sensible batting saw the scores level before Butcher (23*) nudged Denlay for four to seal the win by 2 wickets.
A fantastic day of cricket and another extraordinary finish in a fixture that always seems to provide drama until the end. Nomads’ unheralded tailenders had put on 34 for the last two wickets to clinch the game, and Ben Butcher’s knock of 23* was held in such high esteem by those present that he only narrowly escaped being frogmarched around the ground for a Ralphs-esque picture in front of the Blackheath CC scoreboard.
Nomads joined Blackheath at Vic and Khusbu’s post-match engagement party, where both sides (and a large number of non-playing guests) tucked into delicious fish and chips, an enormous birthday cake, and innumerable jugs of Lost Lager. Chris Page admired Khusbu’s engagement ring: “Yull ‘ave someone’s eye aht with that!” Previous Matches Matches, Scorecards & Tours 2023 Result: Nomads won by 2 wickets
Toss: Blackheath CC
Umpires:Nick Stevenson & Others
Scorers:Various
Debut: None
BLACKHEATH CC Innings
G Howlett* c V Kandampully b Butcher 7
S Manku c Hamilton b Butcher 54
P Deal lbw b Moore 20
S Denlay lbw b Butcher 10
D Rouse c D Ellis b Page 23
W Crone lbw b Page 6
D Bhardwaj c Marshall b Moore 4
S Ahmed c Hamilton b Moore 4
A Antunes bowled Page 23
D Mishra not out 21
T Pope+ c Moore b Butcher 7
Extras (b7,lb5,w2,nb3) 17
TOTAL (All out,46.3 overs) 204
Dnb:12th man not batting Rana Hussain Ashfaq
Fow:1-79(1),2-83(3),3-99(2),4-100(4),5-129(6),6-148(7)-148(5),8-160(8),9-182(9).10-204(11).
Bowling – Chakravarty 7 0 51 0,J Ellis 7 0 24 0,Butcher 11.3 1 28 4,Moore 8 0 31 3,Page 11 0 53 3,A Marshall 3 0 6 0.
NOMADS CC Innings
V Kanampully* retired out 0
T Brockton run out 4
H Kandampully c Mishra b Bharadwaj 76
M Richards c Ahmed b Denlay 43
J Hamilton bowled Ahmed 9
J Ellis bowled Denlay 2
C Moore c Mishra b Denlay 9
D Ellis+ c Pope b Ahmed 0
B Butcher not out 23
C Page bowled Bharadwaj 4
S Chakravarty not out 5
Extras (b14,lb11,w6,nb1) 32
TOTAL (9 wickets,45.5 overs) 208
Fow:rt-6(1),1-24(2),2-130(3),3-151(5),4-155(4),5-173(7),6-174(8),7-174(6),8-189(10).
Bowling – Ashfaq 12 5 40 0(w1),Ahmed 10 2 33 2(nb1),Mishra 5 0 32 0,Antunes 6 32 0, Bharadwaj 7 1 34 2(w5),Denlay 5.5 1 19 3
2022 June Nomads won by 3 wickets
2021 May Blackheath won by 2 wickets
2020 September Nomads won by 3 wickets
2020 May Cancelled Covid 19
2019 September Nomads won by 36 runs
2018 Match Drawn
2017 Match Drawn
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