Exiles beat Agricola by 6 runs in the stifling heat of Haydon’s Road on Sunday.

Skipper Bernard won a crucial toss and Exiles obviously chose to bat first and compiled an ‘about par’ score of 218 for 8 from their 35 overs. Most of the top order got runs – with a rapid 41 for Shahid and 40 for Ansar.

Almond and Lamprecht for Agricola put on 87 for the first wicket in reply as Agricola started strongly. But faced with scoreboard pressure, Lamprecht holed out and the match changed. Exiles then took wickets regularly as Agricola subsided to 147 for 7 before a late cameo from Liam Farrell – with 27 not out – threatened to take Agricola home before an excellent final over from Ansar sealed the Exiles win – by a meagre 6 runs. Skipper Bernard returning 4 for 37 for the Exiles.

Unabombers back at Haydon’s Road next Sunday.

Exiles were narrowly beaten by 11 runs by new opposition Millfields at Hilly Fields on Sunday.

Millfields elected to bat unsurprisingly and after a quiet start accelerated well to reach 198 for 6 from the 35 overs. Exiles bowling was reasonably solid, but a few misfields giving away a few extra runs ultimately proved crucial.

Ajmal (55) led the reply, supported by Shahid, Jibs and debutant Azhar (who all hit twenties) but it wasn’t quite enough.

On to Agricola at Haydons Road next week.

Exiles narrowly lost out by 3 wickets in a lively match against Streatham & Marlborough CC in Dulwich.

On winning the toss, Exiles batted first despite an under-strength batting line up – and 4 of the top six (Ajmal 41, Yahya 34, Jamil 34 & debutant Ishaq 31) hit 30+ to take the Exiles to 157 for 4 and a 200+ score looked possible, only for a collapse to 172 all out – which was ‘always a bit short’.

In reply Exiles took wickets regularly but were put to the sword by the home teams opener who hit a belligerent 76. When he was caught – somehow – by Naren in the deep – Exiles had a late sniff, but it wasn’t to be. 2 wickets for Naren and Siyar.

Potentially no game next weekend, but watch this space. Next confirmed fixture is Agricola at Haydon’s Road on 14 August.

Muhammad Ansar smashed a stunning 150 not out to break Steve Parkinson’s 6 year old club record individual highest score as the Exiles won for the 9th time in 2022, this time at Southern Railway & Kenley.

Partnered by Ajmal (31), the Exiles openers put on 115 in no time in hot conditions. Shahid and Tariq also supported Ansar as his onslaught threatened to break several other club records, before after Ansar retired the Exiles innings subsided somewhat to 243 for 6 from 35 overs.

SRKCC also flew out of the blocks and looked in the chase for a long while before Ansar – now with the ball – finally turned the match in the Exiles favour with the 2 key wickets of the set batsmen. Thereafter Exiles were reasonably comfortable and saw out the win by 27 runs.

Streatham & Marlborough in Dulwich next week.