Nomads snatch victory from the jaws of defeat

Nomads travelled to Springhill, a long trip for some and a short stroll for others, with Richard Bastable a late replacement for Dan Moss. Nomads batted first and Rana Ghosal was out early caught behind. Dan Brannigan was looking good but misjudged one and was bowled. The pitch was not easy to play on with variable bounce which undid some of our batsmen. Rich Bastable never looked confident and was out cheaply. John Loxley played some good shots but was bowled attempting a big hit. Aneek Mahmood toned down his usual game and was supported for a time by Paul Fearon who was given out lbw. Dave Rolfe, distrusting the pitch, was out not scoring. Westwood , attempting a big hit, was caught on the boundary by a fielder who looked more surprised than anyone to have caught it. Darren Cartwright was bowled cheaply which left only John Hoddy to come in the 33rd over with the score on 124.
Mahmood decided he had better get a move-on and took advantage of some some generous bowling. Hoddy managed to stay there until the end to enable the score to rise to an unexpected 182, with 58 not far off a record 10th wicket stand.
By giving their weaker bowlers a bowl, Springhill did give Nomads the chance to get a competitive score which was appreciated.
With something to bowl at, Nomads opened with Mahmood and Fearon. Both of whom managed to get dangerous looking batsmen out. The pitch, however, seemed more suitable for the slower bowlers and Westwood and Hoddy came on.
The batsmen Sujay, sportingly retired at 50, which saw the last of the recognised batsmen. Cartwright took advantage of this and got another 4 wicket haul. The run-rate had slowed considerably with Nomads keeping the best batsmen, Sunni, off strike and a win began to look a slight possibility. Brannigan took the wicket of the dangerous Sunni, with a good catch by Cartwright. However this saw the retired batsman, Sujay, back in. However trying to get the diminutive youngster Haris off strike he went for a run and Hoddy got the ball back to Rolfe who ran the youngster out to give Nomads an unlikely victory.
The opposition allowed Nomads the chance of victory by bringing inexperienced bowlers on and a sporting declaration on 50 by Sujay.
[Disclaimer: Any offence caused by this article is unintentional, any praise is well deserved]

Date: 21 August 2022
Start time: 1:15pm
Venue: Springhill Road, Springhill
Competition: 40 overs Friendly
Scores: Lichfield Nomads 182 for 9, Springhill 180
Result: Lichfield Nomads beat Springhill by 2 runs
Toss: Springhill won the toss and elected to bowl.
Scorers: J. Hoddy, P. Gardner
Umpires: D. Forster, K. Stanley, various
Report: J. Hoddy
Weather: Warm, sunny spells

21 August 2022