Two interesting matches

Hi,

Yesterday it was quite warm. We had couple of interesting matches. Arvind and I were the first ones to arrive. We took full advantage of this and went for a quick jog. It was a nice having the whole ground to ourselves. Come to think of it, maybe I should have removed my shoes and jogged barefoot ... that would have been awesome ... like running on our school ground in December-January before school (6:45-7:15 AM) ... maybe next Sunday. Finally as folks started we had an impromptu catching practice session with a softball which by the way is not that soft.

Initially we did not have a quorum and so started with our new-found-love for number-number session. Abhijeet's largess (for which he got a lot of grief from Arvind) helped me secure number 1 position and I got a chance to bat. Before the second batsman could snatch bat from me more players joined us and we decided to play a match.

Team A: Vamshi, Pratik, Siddharth, Arvind and Sumeet

Team B: Abhijeet, Senthil, Chandru, Ajeesh and Anand

Team B must have won the toss as it chose to bat first. After weeks of non-play everybody appeared a bit rusty. Nobody from Team B was able to stand up to Team A's onslaught. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals and not before long they were all out for a paltry 11. Pratik finished them off in style by taking 2 wickets on consecutive deliveries and if I mam not mistaken both the batsmen were clean bowled.  Earlier Siddharth had bowled a tight spell and produced a gem to get his man. I should know because I was the one who stood there like a fool. Seeing the ball come down the pitch I was confident I could handle it and I even got my bat in line with the ball (or at least that's what I thought), but the ball suddenly decided to turn and it went past my bat and took my middle and off stumps down. I was kind of standing there hoping that the sound that I heard weren't my stumps being knocked down but maybe some sound that the wicket keeper had made. I wasn't so lucky. Team A had bowled superbly to get Team B back into the dugout with few overs to spare.

Team A looked quite relax and there was a slight beeline to wield the bat because they knew the total wasn't much and so it was better to get on sooner than later. Team B's task was cut out. they had to get Team A out. They began on a  promising note. They lost Pratik quickly and this kind of gave them a slight boost. They thought maybe ... just maybe they could pull it off! It was going to be very difficult but not impossible. For this to happen Abhijeet and Ajeesh would have to bowl exceptionally well. The former would have to use all his guile while the latter would have to send the balls down the batsman throats at break neck speeds. The rest would have to handled by Senthil, because after-all he is one of our wicket-taking bowlers. All 3 bowled very well not allowing Team A to get away easily. But in the end 12 runs weren't enough to keep a side down which boasted of batting line-up which still had Vamshi, Arvind and Sumeet. Soon enough Team a overhauled Team B's total.

It was only 8:55 AM, when the fist game ended, which meant we could have a second game. This time Team A won the toss and they elected to bat. From Team B Ajeesh bowled marvelously maintaining a good line and length while not sacrificing pace. I am not sure who opened the innings (but I know who was the last one to get out). Team A played pretty well. Sumeet played his part. Unfortunately Vamshi got out a bit early which put on the brakes to a certain extent. But the game was far from over. I remember Siddharth using his brawn to hit some huge shots. He played some great pull shots and I think even hit a six. Arvind played some good shots and was there till the end.  In fact it was going rather well for Team A and they were all set to cross the 50-run mark. But Ajeesh had different game-plan in mind. He got a wicket on his first ball ... he bowled the batsman. As if this was not enough he repeated the feat on the following delievry. Suddenly Team A was in doldrums. One of their set batsman was out an they lost a newcomer too. It was then upto Arvind to see his team through and bat the rest of the innings. But first things first ..... his paramount task was to avert the impending hat-trick. Ajeesh was on a roll and was determined to send Arvind packing. But Arvind was able to negotiate the ball well letting it go its way and not fiddle with it. I remember that clearly because he immediately changed his bat which confused Sumeet a bit because he couldn't figure out why would Arvind do such a thing when he hadn't even touched the earlier delivery. Anyway buoyed by the previous delivery's outcome Arvind  appeared quite confident. Fortunately for him, he connected but unfortunately it took a top edge and went up in the air. The fielder did the rest and Team A's campaign was over in merely 4 balls. Till last over they were all set for putting up a formidable total and now within a span of 4 balls they had lost 3 wickets. Even before the over had ended they were bundled out and were left licking their wounds trying to think what went wrong where. They didn't know what had hit them, all they knew was that it had hurt pretty bad.

Team B were in great spirits and were determined to spurn Team A and capitalize on their turn of fortune. Unfortunately this time too they couldn't get off. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Towards the end it was so pathetic that everybody including the batsman was hoping to get out so that he could be put out of hi misery. Team A could muster about 15-17 runs. They needed about 38 runs to win.

If anybody then Ajeesh was the star of the day. He bowled superbly and almost took an awesome catch. Even though he missed because he slipped and lost his balance, the effort was laudable. He was standing at the point when the ball was passing him on the left. He lurched forward and tried t grab it and would have been successful. But just about when the ball touched his palm he lost his balance ad the ball hit his palm and fell down. As far as batting is concerned Siddharth played very well hitting some big shots. In the second innings Arvind matched Siddharth and played a well paced innings.

Yesterday's surprise package was a silent competition afoot between 2 of our players. It is so silent that even they are not sure if anything is happening. I tried to ask them but they immediately dismissed any such notion. I will leave it upto you to decide ... be there next Sunday and find it our for yourself. I will give you couple of clues ... for sure they will try to be in opposite teams, when one comes to bat the other will ASK for the ball and all this will happen in a matter-of-fact way ... you will have to be highly discerning ... let's see ...even I am intrigued now and am waiting for our next session. So see you next Sunday!

Have a nice and productive week ahead.

Bye.

Anand