Sudden Infusion Turns The Game Around

When we reached the ground the girls baseball team was just assembling. They were there with their coaches and parents and siblings. We still took a chance and dared to occupy the main baseball ground … and as it turns out luck favors the brave. We had a decent turnout. We began the game with 5 players each and then Senthil joined us in the second over and then halfway through the first innings we got 4 more players and that breathed life into the game and we had an entertaining game

Team A: Chandru, Abhijeet, Dharmendra, Pankaj, Siddharth and Sanjib

Team B: Rajesh, Pratik, Amit, Bala, Senthil and Anand

Common player: Raja

We got 2 new players Madhu and Jitesh (they both batted from Team A, so I am not sure how the team got divided after they came over. Maybe Team B got an existing player from Team A and the 2 new guys went to Team A … something like that.

Team A won the toss and elected to bat. I think Siddharth opened the innings with Abhijeet. They first over fetched them 8 runs, where Abhijeet played a beautiful cover drive to score the first of the many boundaries by his team. After first couple of overs Rajesh handed the ball to Bala and Pratik who were successful in stemming the flow of runs and bring some respite to Team B. I remember Bala’s over, where I think the first ball went for a wide and the very next ball uprooted all the 3 stumps. It was amazing. Both the bowlers continued to maintain good line and length. They bowled 2 a piece. Both the openers were sent back and were replaced by Pankaj and Dharmendra. Just like Bala and Pratik helped Team B to stay in the game, Pankaj and Dharmendra ensured that Team A did not slip too much. They were content in just scoring singles and twos and did not commit the crimes from last Sunday. They both had realized what they were up against and quickly modulated their game to adapt to the situation, which they successfully reversed after few overs. They were beaten couple of times and there was even a chance where one of Pankaj’s jabs ballooned in the air straight down the wicket on Pratik’s bowling which should have been converted into a catch (maybe that would have brought Team B firmly back into the game … who knows). After the 6^th over we saw 4 players walking towards us. I am not sure what happened but this caused a turnaround in Team A’s attitude and they suddenly started charging down the wicket and scoring at will. As if getting inspired upon seeing a full ground (which I can vouch is a beautiful sight), Pankaj and Dharmendra broke the shackles and started hitting. This set the tone for the rest of the match. I think they both did not get out and retired to give others a chance to bat. A lot of runs were scored in singles and twos especially on the leg side. I was standing at long off and hardly got a Chance to field. Short balls were pulled to get a boundary and good length or yorker length deliveries were stopped in their tracks to score a single or a two. After Pankaj and Dharmendra’s outburst Madhu (the new guy) came along. I think he was playing after a long time as he appeared a bit tentative in the beginning. Standing at long on I could see he was just trying to eye the ball and get some time in the middle before doing anything adventurous. This initial settling period reaped dividends for Team A, because Madhu did the most damage in the second half of the innings. He just went on a hitting spree and was connecting the ball rather well. I am not sure who was supporting him at the other end, but they both combined well to score some brisk runs. The score went from 60 to 70 to 80 within no time. Team A was going very strong. Rajesh finally brought Pratik to bowl the final. Pratik tried his beast to contain Madhu but was only partially successful. Madhu was all charged up and was I no mood to spare anybody. He scored a boundary and some twos in the mid-wicket region. On the second last ball of the innings (15 over mach) Team A was on 95. If Madhu could hit a six his team would breach the 100 run mark. I am not sure if we have scored 100 more than 3 times in our history of playing cricket on this ground, so it was quite momentous. Pratik wanted to keep it straight and fast, but Madhu was able to read the delivery and heaved it in the long on region. If not a six it would have earned him at least a boundary, but Bala had a different plan. He was the right man at the right place (as far as Team B was concerned). Judging the catch beautifully he caught it just few feet inside the boundary line. Madhu was dismissed and Team B had prevented Team A from breaching the 100-run mark.

Team B began their campaign in slow motion, they scored 3 runs in their fist over and this continued for the next few overs. Credit should be given to Team A’s bowlers. They did not let Team B’s batsmen settle down at all. The first blow was dealt by Sanjib and it very nearly would have been a double whammy. Sanjib took a beautiful caught and bold on his follow through to dismiss Amit, one of the openers. Senthil replaced him and on the second or maybe the third ball pushed a slightly rising delivery which wet up in the air. Team B nearly missed a heartbeat when they saw Sanjib lunging in the ball’s direction. Fortunately for them the ball was quite far away, otherwise Sanjib had nearly caught the ball. But Team B’s joy was short lived, because Chandru came through with a absolute cracker of a dive behind the wickets to dismiss Senthil. I am not sure if it was in the same over or the next one, Senthil nicked one behind the wickets. It did not travel comfortably to Chandru, it fell a bit short and was to his right, but he didn’t want to give up and took a diving catch. Senthil had to go. Rajesh came in as his replacement. Unfortunately for Team B this double whammy thing wasn’t going to let them off so easily. They had dodged it Sanjib’s over, but came face to face with it in the fifth over. Dharmendra was able keep a tight line and length, he was concentrating on the off and was quite unpredictable. Mid-way through the over after frustrating Rajesh and myself with his nagging line he forced us to make a dash for a cheeky single. Unfortunately due to miscommunication Rajesh had to pay the price with his wicket as he was left stranded in the middle of the pitch. While the wickets were falling at regular intervals the runs were not coming so freely (this was kind of another double whammy … Team B was being dealt with one “DW” after another). The batsmen were under immense pressure to make a breakthrough. On the very next ball, which was slight wide off the off-stump, I tried to heave it, but instead got a top edge and the ball just went high up in the air. Dharmendra had enough time to get underneath it and take a well judged catch. I had to leave early and so couldn't stay till the end. I was followed by Pratik and then Bala. Even though Bala is a fine player and quite capable of turning things around, Team a;s bowlers were not giving any room what-so-ever. So if I were to guess, Team A may just have taken the honors.

I was thinking about missed chances and how I could have played differently well into the night (I haven’t done that in a long time). This was perfect testimony to the fact that what started off as a near washout turned out to be an eventful match because of sudden infusion of new blood. I hope folks keep coming back and we have a good turnout to have a decent games in the future. Team A outplayed Team B in every department and come to think of it when the teams were declared I thought the distribution was slightly lopsided. I didn’t complain because I thought the other team got a raw deal, boy was I naive! Team A batted superbly and followed it up with some spirited bowling. Their fielders were also charged up diving all around the place to take catches. Special mention to Chandru and Pratik in this regard. In case of Pratik it would have been a catch of the year had it stuck. I was standing at long off and when the ball was hit in the square leg area I thought it would definitely travel to the rope, but just then out of thin air Pratik lunged at the ball. Even though he was standing there all the time, it appeared as if he came from nowhere. In the bowling department Pratik and Bala were blazing the trail. Sanjib was making Team B’s already miserable life more difficult by not giving them any width and being spot on. Dharmendra and Pankaj as usual were successful in stifling the batsmen and were ably supported by Siddharth and Senthil. 

Comic relief was provided by Sanjib when he got out the same way twice. The first time was a very close call and so he was asked to come back later in the innings. But he still managed to get run out at the same (non-striker's) end while trying to score a cheeky single.

Overall it was a good game, only if Team B had shown some spine it would have been an awe-inspiring one. Hopefully you guys can join the fun next Sunday when we prepare our playing 11 for the upcoming match on 12/08. See you on the field!

Have a nice rest of the week.

Bye.

Anand