MATCH 73 NOMADS CC v THAMES VALLEY GENTLEMEN CC at Shepherds Bush CC 38 Bromyard Avenue, W3 7BP 11.30am September 8th 2015

Result:  Nomads won by 7 wickets
Toss:    Thames Valley Gentlemen
Umpires: P Irani
Scorer:  Don Shelley,Steve Brewer and Bill Rodwell
Debut(s):None

THAMES VALLEY GENTLEMEN Innings R   B   M  4s 6s
J Miller     not out           162 141 178 22 2
C Taylor     lbw     b Stokes   18  29  32  3 1
U van Duyker bowled    Steele   19  27  39  1 1
REA Lowe     lbw     b Steele    5  20  17  1 0
R Vitas      run out             4  11  14  0 0
K Bissett+   bowled    Dabby    36  36  49  4 0
R Tinsley    not out             9  18  22  1 0
Extras      (b7,9lb,w2,nb0)     18
TOTAL   5 wkts dec,46.5 overs) 271
Dnb:C Menzie,P Alford,R Couts,C Page.

Fow:1-30(2),2-84(3),3-102(4),4-128(5),5-222(6).

Bowling-Smith 6 0 36 0,Stokes 8 2 16 1(w1,nb1),Dabby 9.5 1 69 1(w1),Gregory 12 0 73 0,Steele 11 1 61 2.

NOMADS CC Innings                   R  B M  4s 6s
M Blake    c Menzie   b Page       28 29 35  5 0
S Dummer   c Vitas    b Coutts     65 79 66 10 1
A Stokes   lbw        b van Duyter 37 39 45  5 0
A Smith*   st bissett b Alford      9 35 34  1 0
J Thornton c & b        van Duyker 38 49 57  3 0
O Logan+   c & b        Menzie     51 30 31  5 2
D Steele   bowled       van Duyker  4  2  3  1 0
G Dabby    bowled       van Duyker  4  5 10  0 0
S Reilly   not out                 25 14 11  4 0
A Gregory  not out                  0  0  3  0 0
Extras    (b8,lb1,w2,nb0)          11
TOTAL     (8 wickets,47 overs)    272
Dnb:ME Blumberg

Fow:1-40(1),2-120(2),3-141(3),4-165(4),5-233(6),6-241(7)7-244(5),8-261(8),

Bowling-Menzie 10 0 62 1,Page 8 0 49 1,van Duyker 16 2 77 4,Coutts 6 0 31 1,Alford 6 0 16 1,Lowe 3 0 28 0.

 Nomads seal victory in exciting run chase off the last ball

A splendid fifty off 30 balls from Olly Logan set up a Nomads win which had seemed unlikely when he went in to bat for Nomads had slipped some way behind the required run rate. Sean Reilly applied the coup de grace with 26 off 14 balls giving Nomads victory off the last ball in an 11 run last over.

TVG had won the toss and elected to bat which was embarassing for Nomads as four players were late which is discouteous to our hosts and irritating for the captain of the day. Nevertheless TVG's opening batsmen failed to take advantage of the paucity of fielders scoring only 32 runs off the first ten overs for the loss of 1 wicket. Andy Stokes in the unaccustomed role of opening seamer bowled a mean spell of 8 overs,1-16. Two wickets from David Steele and a very good run out reduced TVG to 126-4 off 27.4 overs.

The arrival of TVG number 6 Bissett changed the innings, especially after lunch, as he coached Miller to his first ton and mixed five boundaries with a lot of sharp running between the wickets taking advantage of our slower fielders. He departed bowled young George Dabby but the 6th wicket had added 96 runs. The emboldened centurion Miller then hit a couple of sixes and several more boundary fours in a 49 run partnership with Tinsley in 6 overs whereupon the declaration came.

Nomads openers Mike Blake and Steve Dummer made a solid start of 65 for the 1st wicket and around the asking run rate though Blake did fall to his chagrin to Chris Page. Andy Stokes joined Dummer and these two added a brisk 55 runs before Dummer was caught off Coutts. Stokes fell some 20 runs later trapped lbw by spinner van Duyker, 141-3,off 27.1 overs.

The innings now lost momentum as the Nomads skipper strove to thrash the bowling but with little success and when young Olly Logan replaced him to join Jon Thornton, the score was 165-4 off 34.2 overs. When he departed for 51 after a stand of 68 off 8.1 overs Nomads were back on track but then lost two wickets quickly to van Duyker chasing the runs. With 3 overs to go Nomads still required 28 runs. Another wicket fell at 261 but Sean Reilly saw us home as the light was fading fast.

This was the first match between the two clubs and was played in very good spirit. A kitchen disaster resulted in in us eating tea at lunchtime and lunch at the tea interval and a there was a great deal of both.

A good number of ales were quaffed before both teams departed not least by the club skipper Tom Brockton who had come to watch the last hour or so. Another match beckons in a year's time.