Exiles pulled off an excellent win on Sunday against an OMT Sunday side that hadn’t been beaten in nearly 2 years.

Batting first, Exiles scored 175/8 off 35 overs – Will Kent carrying his bat for 53 not out and Andy Wingfield hitting 41 off 26 balls. The innings was also notable in that the last 4 Exiles dismissals were all stumpings….

In reply, OMT started well, before Phil Ling (3/26) broke through. The key moment however was when the very dangerous Sohan Modi (44) was caught at point by Keith Roberts off Marcin Zieleniewski. From then on, Exiles seemed marginal favourites and duly pulled off a narrow victory, OMT all out for 154.

Next Saturday sees the Exiles 20 year centenary match at Cottenham Park. All Exiles past and present are invited to play in what will be a very sociable occasion – with at least 30 players already confirming their attendance.

Exiles were well beaten on Sunday at Chiswick. A what-turned-out-to-be-quite-important-toss was lost and Exiles were asked to bat – and quickly subsided to 16 for 5 after the first 8 overs to accurate swing bowling.

Simon Gundry’s fine 82 not out (off 84 balls, with 3 sixes) turned things around, with capable support from Will Kent (30) and Marcin Zieleniewski (an entertaining 23), taking the Exiles to 176 for 7 from their 40.

200 was thought to be par, but actually even this seems unlikely to have been enough, as WICC’s no 1 (101) and 3 (56) played excellently in a stand of 143 to more-or-less see their side home, before a couple of late wickets gave the Exiles some consolation; only Andy Wingfield (2 for 24) and Chris Plume (1 for 27) taking wickets.

Next up is OMT at Joseph Hood Rec. next Sunday.

Following a heavy thunderstorm an hour before the match, Exiles managed to beat an under-strength Nomads side by 6 wickets.

Nomads, perhaps surprisingly, elected to bat, and were dismissed for just 47, with the wickets shared amongst all 4 bowlers – with Phil Ling (3 wkts) the most successful.

In response, it took Exiles just 8.4 overs to reach their target – but it wasn’t without a couple of wobbles – firstly Todorov and a certain Naren Patel (guesting for the oppo) removed Akthar and Aloysius – leaving the Exiles teetering on 14 for 2.

Then, following an excellent cameo of 31 off 16 (with 7 fours) from Jasper Searle which brought the scores level, 2 wickets in 2 balls from Andrew West caused chaos amongst the under-padded Exiles batters – as Searle was bowled by one that shot along the ground and then Simon Gundry was caught by a stunning reaction catch at midwicket. The cool-head of Marcin Zieleniewski – batting in loafers and shorts – slogged the winning run.

Exiles are having a break over the bank holiday weekend; next up are WICC on 2nd September at Chiswick.

Exiles returned from a surprisingly fractious game against CYPOS with a good 35 run win on Sunday.

On batting first, we amassed 192 for 7, with 50’s for Keith and Jasper (with a sudden return to form) and some good hitting by Wil at the death.

The bowlers then started very well – reducing a strong CYPOS top order to 39 for 4, before a big-hitting 71 from the number 6 brought the game back into the balance, only for an excellent boundary catch by Jasp to more-or-less seal things. CYPOS eventually all out for 157.

Much better all-round team performance, though this match wasn’t without several moments of controvery, which will take some reflecting on.

Nomads are next up – at Raynes Park. Hopefully the good cricket will continue…