Exiles returned to form but were edged out by just 2 wickets in an excellent battle at OMT.

Exiles batted first on a glorious afternoon and 41 from guest Abhijai Singh set the Exiles well on their way at 88 for 2. But a quick flourish of wickets saw Exiles slump to 99 for 6, before a restorative partnership of 68 between Leuvennink with a brisk 49 and Wingfield in support saw the Exiles reach a score of 169/8 off 35 – which was nearly par.

The bowling reply got of to a blistering start as OMTs young guns were all dismissed quickly and OMT were 21 for 5, thanks to 3 wickets for Faisal Musakhel.  When Wingfield then removed the dangerous Boardley with his first delivery OMT were 56 for 6.

However OMT bat deep and a superb unbeaten 70 from skipper Alay Vora saw his side home, well supported by no 8 Sam Hewett (41), despite 2 late wickets from Jibran (3 for 38).

Agricola at Nursery Road next week.

Exiles suffered another emphatic defeat – crushed by 9 wickets in a match lasting little more than 40 overs at Spencer.

Put into bat there followed a flurry of early wickets, before a 56 run stand between Sherzai (29) and skipper Bernard (21), looked to be helping build a solid total for the Exiles. But once the breakthrough was made, Spencer tore through the rest of the line up. 90 all out was never going to be enough.

An early strike from Faisal proved Exiles only moment of success before Spencer romped home in 18 overs.

OMT away next week.

Nomads beat Exiles by a comfortable 111 run margin to make it 2-2 between the sides in 2019.

An Exiles side featuring 4 debutants were never really in the hunt in truth once Nomads had made their way to 170 for 2 on winning the toss. Exiles rallied well with 3 wickets for trophy-hunting skipper Bernard Leuvennink (3 for 32), but Nomads were still able to post a very imposing 222 for 8, with 50’s for Hassan (as usual) and Darwin.

Bilal Musakhel lost 2 balls on the tram-line on his way to 56, and Bernard made 32, but that was it from the Exiles as the side was bowled out for only 111, with Zia taking 4 for 7 for the Nomads.

Spencer away next week when hopefully availability might mean Exiles don’t have to play 4 debutants, including 2 youngsters.