One Man Show

Hi,

The weather was not exactly on their side, the sun was beating down their necks and every run was demanding its "fluid ounce" of sweat from the fielder, the bowler and the batsmen alike but none of this mattered to the terrific thirteen who was having a ball on the ground. Yes, I am talking about us, we had a fabulous game this past Sunday. It was every bit interesting especially the second innings where a great tussle was happening between the ball and the bat. The star of the game was our ace batsman. As usual he appeared in a league of his own. He played with utter and complete disdain and showed us once again why he is one of our best.

Team A: Arvind, Abhijeet, Vivek, Pratik, Amit and Senthil

Team B:Venkat, Partha, Pankaj, Rajesh, Chandru and Vikram

Common: Anand

Team A must have won the toss as they elected to bat. I arrived a bit late and so missed the initial 4 overs. I guess Arvind and Senthil had already departed as I didn't see them wield the bat. They must have been responsible for some good hitting in the beginning as the score-board looked healthy. I think Abhijeet and Amit were at the crease. They were playing well, but unfortunately Amit had to depart a bit early. This brought Pratik to the crease and he alongwith Abhijeet was instrumental in taking Team A to a respectable total. They paired pretty well and were batting with confidence. I remember thinking only if we could play like this in actual matches. They didn't go for big shots but concentrated on getting singles and doubles and keep the score board ticking. They were hitting on either side of the field. Unfortunately Pratik had to depart ad then it was Abhijeet's responsibility to keep the score board going. He was ably supported by Vivek, but in the end he had to wage a lone battle. He played very well refusing to give up. He was able to target the odd lose ball and hit it in the deep for a quick double. A bit earlier though he got a fright of his life when Pankaj nearly had him on the mat. Standing at (slightly deeper) short leg Pankaj pulled a real stunner which prompted Rajesh to recommend him for our 'Fielder of the Day' title. The batsman had just nicked one on the leg. It didn't exactly land in Pakaj's hands, he had to jump to stop the ball. The batsmen thought they had enough time and so they were running a bit casually, and this is where they committed a mistake. They should not have underestimated Pankaj, but something tells me this won't happen again. Not caring about his position and not bothering to pick himself up, Pankaj grabbed the ball. Knowing perfectly that time wasn't on his side, he didn't throw the ball at the wicket-keeper but took an aim at the stumps. Mind you, from his position, I am sure he could see only one stump, but in one swift motion he took aim and threw the ball and hit jackpot. Fortunately for Abhijeet, he was safely in his crease, but that wasn't before he had his socks blown away. It was an absolute gem, we haven't something like in a long time ... first a cheeky run, then a dive to save the run followed by an equally amazing pick-up-and throw ... it was all happening in the middle. This had to be the best part of the game, till now. Arvind even commented that maybe we should declare the batsman out just to applaud the fielder's actions. Actions like this raise the bar taking the game to the next level and keeps us coming Sunday after Sunday wanting for me. Kudos to fielders like Pankaj ... take a bow to salute their effort!! Team A had done well though and was able to put up a defendable score of about 60 odd runs.

Team B began its campaign on an interesting note. Vikram and Partha gave them a steady start. If I am not mistaken, the opening pair was at the crease for about 4 overs. Vikram was playing cautiously while Partha was trying to go for the shots. I particularly liked one of latter's shots on the off side, it was timed very well. In the end Partha had to depart and I think Vikram declared his innings. The score was a bit low and so Venkat took it upon himself to spruce things up a bit. This kind of sent a chill through the bowling side. If at all something like this was happening, Venkat was totally unaffected, he put his head down and was doing what he does best ... trying to send the ball over the rope. He was just out of this world. He was timing the ball perfectly. He made it look all so easy. He was ably supported by Rajesh . After initial couple of wickets, they steadied the innings. Abhijeet and Patik were bowling very well and were responsible for putting on some breaks and sending the batsmen on their back-foot. The former with his flighted deliveries and guile and the later with his pace. I remember one particular Pratik over, where he let out a very audible grunt on the last ball. It wasn't a surprise that the batsman missed the ball and the wicket-keeper had to be on his toes to catch it. I am not sure if it was the pace or the ferocity of the grunt that distressed the batsman and got the better of him. I should commend Rajesh for proving to be a perfect foil to Venkat's hitting. He was happy playing the second fiddle and let Venkat do all the hitting. There was one particular over where Vivek was bowling one beauty after another, but the last 2 balls completely ruined his stats when Venkat sent two consecutive deliveries over the rope. Such was the battle between the bat and the ball, where in the same over if the bowler appeared to be on the top in the first few deliveries, the batsman quickly regained his position in the second half. The come-backs were amazing making the game very alive. But it appeared that Team A would take the game away as the runs started piling up slowly and asking rate tarted rising. Team B needed about 30 odd runs in 3 overs. The good thing was that Venkat was still at the crease and was showing no signs of letting up. After giving Venkat a god stand Rajesh declared his innings and allowed Chandru to bat. Similar to his team-mate Chandru too played a very valuable innings giving Venkat good company. In the final two overs Team B needed about 18 runs of which they made 6 in the penultimate over. Not wanting to bowl the last over, it was finally upto Pratik to rise to the occasion and take the bull by the horns. He tried his best to calm Venkat asking him to take easily reminding him that this was just a match between us friends. The first ball went for a four, Venkat had made his intentions very clear. He had taken the battle to the bowling side and by hitting a boundary on the very first ball had put immense pressure on the bowler and in the process relieved some of his own. The second ball was met with an identical fate. Pratik fought back and didn't allow the third ball to disappear. Team B had made 10 runs in 4 deliveries and needed 2 more runs. Venkat was facing Pratik, literally anything couldn't happen. Both Venkat and Pratik had been in such situations before, both knew what was required of them. Pratik didn't disappoint and bowled a good length delivery on middle-and-leg rising to about waist height. And this is where the miracle happened ... I swear to god, never could I have imagined that such a delivery could be hit for such a shot. Venkat just pulled and sent the ball flying over the rope in the square leg region. It was an amazing shot and perfect way to end the match. It was literally the crowning glory and perfect testament to his form. Team B had won the match.

As I said in the beginning, the weather wasn't very co-operative but the game was absolutely awesome. Team B had a good batting line-up, but Team A had put the screws on and would have nearly taken the game away. Today's star batsman was Venkat. He was closely followed by Abhijeet who played very well and single handedly took his team to a respectable total. Rajesh, Pratik and Chandru did their parts helping their side with some valuable runs. The fielder of the day was Pankaj, who time and again proves what a wonderful all-rounder he is, we hope great things from him. Pratik and Abhijeet bowled very well completing our star line-up for the day. Special mention to Vivek for displaying some great throwing capabilities. Unfortunately he did not get rewarded, but it is just a matter of time. You guys out there, just remember if Vivek has the ball please think twice, he has a damn good arm.

Overall it was great game, hope you can join us next time to make it even more interesting.

Have a nice rest of the week.

Talk to you later.

Anand