Exiles picked up their first victory of 2023 with a fine 9 wicket victory against Riverbank Ramblers at Barn Elms.

Exiles critically won the toss and chose to bowl and after miserly spells from Naren and Masie it was Phil with 4 for 18 who really tore into the home sides batting line up on the inconsistent surface. With further wickets for Siyar and 2 for Ajmal, Riverside were dismissed for 86.

After the early loss of Ajmal, it was Keith (23no) and Yahya (a belligerent 47no) that took the Exiles home in excellent time.

A fine response after last week. A third successive new opposition next week – Karnataka at King Georges Playing Fields.

Exiles’ 2023 season started belatedly with a disappointing 8 wicket defeat away at new opposition Ewell.

On choosing to bat, the Exiles top order dug in, but founds runs hard to come by on the early season track, with Keith (19) and skipper Shahid (14) in particular doing their best to help the Exiles amass a competitive score.

Once they were dismissed there wasn’t much to follow – with only Yahya reaching double figures – as the Exiles subsided to 74 all out.

In reply, 74 didn’t prove to be anywhere near enough, despite a wicket on debut for Anil Pappu and a caught & bowled from Masie, as Ewell completed the win in 22.1 overs.

On to Riverbank Ramblers next week at Barn Elms.

We have arranged three pre-season nets at the indoor school at Lords – as follows:

Wednesday 12 April 7-8pm

Wednesday 19 April 7-8pm

Wednesday 26 April 8-9pm

Availability will be checked and confirmed via the WhatsApp group in the same way as the match selection process.

Congrats to Shahid Iqbal who was appointed club captain for the start of the 2023 season… Shahid has made 54 appearances for the club since his debut in 2017 and has to date scored 924 runs at 18 and taken 18 wickets at 21. He has also won the fielding trophy twice.

Good luck to Shahid in the role!