Match Report: Paddington Rabbits vs NECC

A few weeks of wet weather and unavailable players meant that this was our first game in almost a month. In fact, we almost had to cancel this one due to four players having to pull out 24 hours before the match. Fortunately, the Paddington Rabbits were able to kindly loan some players to make up the numbers. 
Notable mentions in the team this week included a very welcome Exiles debut for Ed and a rare and beautiful appearance by our Chairman.

This was the first time in recent memory (or ever?) that the Norwood Exiles have travelled North of the river and we were excited to play at this Westminster ground. On arrival, we were immediately made to feel at home as the mud, puddles and long grass were absolutely on a par with The Lakes. 

The match started without a toss as the hosts mysteriously expressed a wish to bowl first. On a concrete wicket. 

Aidan joined skipper, Kalp, to open the batting and they got off to a steady start. Kalp was fortunate to be dropped on the fence off the bowling of Ankit in the second over and a sluggish outfield and some disciplined bowling meant runs were hard to come by. 
Aidan finally fell to the skilful variations of Mr. Nicholas, clean bowled off a full-length delivery which brought Ed out to bat in his debut appearance and as a left-hander, he is a welcome addition to the Exiles family. 
Ed smashed the first boundary of the innings before he was bowled by Ankit thereby sending Vice-captain, Charlie, to join Kalp in the middle at number four. 
Even after the first change, there was no respite from the new bowlers with Ellie and Amol keeping things tight before Amol had Kalp adjudged LBW just before drinks and at 44 for 3 we were in a spot of bother. Staring in to the face of a potential low score, Raj and Charlie worked hard to steady the ship with a patient fourth wicket knock of 29. 

This came to an end when Ellie had Charlie caught behind which brought Jack into the middle for what developed in to a tremendous, match-winning partnership of 85 between Raj and Jack which took our score to 159; a competitive score on this track.

After some passing showers, the chase was underway. Aaron and Jack opened the bowling economically and were supported by some good fielding to keep the Rabbits to under three runs per over after the first 10. The only wicket to fall was that of Gopi’s, clean bowled by Jack. 
Aidan replaced Aaron and removed the remaining opener straight away to bring Jones in at 33 for 2. Guy, a Rabbit playing for the Exiles (an Exiled Rabbit?) on the day, joined Aidan in the attack and Amol and Jones saw the Rabbits through to drinks with 52 for 2 after 15 overs. 
The Rabbits then launched a counterattack on the seamers and put together a quick partnership of 56 runs which brought the game alive and threatened to take the match away from the Exiles. However, the spin partnership of Raj and Iain slowly stemmed the flow of runs with the lack of pace inhibiting the batters abilities to get the ball away on a slow outfield. 
Raj struck in his second over to have Jones clean bowled and at 102 for 3 and after 24 overs, the Rabbits needed just 52 off 11 overs. At this pivotal moment in the game, the spinners took three wickets between them in the next three overs to tip the advantage back towards the Exiles. Raj then kept the pressure on, striking twice more in his next two overs, taking the key wicket of Amol, caught at cover by Guy for a well-made 53, and that of Mr. Nick, clean bowled with a brilliantly flighted, full delivery. 
From the other (actually, the same) end, Iain had Lewis sharply stumped by Charlie which he followed up by quickly removing Other Jack to send the Rabbits to seven wickets down and needing nearly five runs an over. 
Ellie and Rabbits' skipper Paul came together to take the chase into the final overs of the match with Iain finishing his spell of seven overs with figures of 2 for 30 and Jack replaced Iain for his final two overs but was unable to dislodge the determined nightwatchmen pair. 
The tension in the middle had Ellie so charged up that she decided to tackle all three stumps at the non-striker’s end head-first in a fantastic commitment to protect her wicket against the threat of a non-existent run out.
Jack’s seven overs ended in very impressive figures of 1 for 17 and Aaron took over from him at the death with the Rabbits needing a run a ball from their last four overs. The fourth ball of the over saw Paul hit a straight drive off a full toss only for Aaron to take a phenomenal one-handed return catch, low to his right in his follow through. A moment of brilliance that all but sealed the match for the Exiles.
Ankit came in at number 10 but lasted only one ball as Aaron had him LBW and leaving him on the cusp of a hat-trick. Guy, who had done tremendous service by fielding for both sides (nearly 70 overs) faced up to the hat-trick ball with everyone in close but unfortunately for Aaron, Guy was able to tuck a full ball into the leg side for a single. 

Raj came on to bowl the 33rd over with one wicket remaining and 20 runs left to chase but there was to be no further drama as Raj had Ellie caught at mid-on by Aaron to conclude a welcome and - in the end - relatively comfortable 17-run win for the Exiles. 

After the match, the Rabbits captain, Paul, very kindly presented a bottle of his own-brand wine to the Exiles which was gifted to Raj as Player of The Match for his heroics on the day with figures of 4 for 29 and a score of 38 in a match-winning partnership. Raj very generously shared the contents of the bottle with fellow Exiles who were soon keen supporters and consumers of Paul’s generosity. As it should be in Sunday cricket, both teams shared a few drinks and good conversation after a well-fought and close match. 

It was great to be back playing cricket with a wonderful group of people from the Rabbits. This was truly the epitome of Sunday friendly matches.

Scorecard