Nail biting encounter, full of drama

                                                     ***Aankho Dekha Haal***

24th June: SCCC 4th XI v/s London Welsh 2nd XI

Result: SCCC won by 1 wicket in the last over

Highlights:

•CHETAN 4Wkts, 29 runs and 1 run out

• AHMED 22 Runs, 1 Wkt (Kadak Spell of 8 Overs for 25 runs only) & 1 catch

• VASU: 2 Wkts and Kadak Spell of 8 Overs-for 25 runs, Crunching drive for Victory

• DHIRENDER: 1 Wicket , 1 catch & Two crucial partnerships for 8th and 9th Wicket totalling 46 runs

• HIMANSHU: 3 Catches, 1wkt and 11 runs

Battered by injuries (Captain Vixit, Abhi, Chetan playing with broken/fractured finger), Samit (Vixit’s trusted successor) led the 4th XI to a thrilling and nail-biting victory against 2nd position ‘London Welsh CC’. Winning the toss, Samit decided to bowl first on a newly laid pitch and then proved to be a good decision eventually (for several other reasons).

SCCC Bowling: opened their bowling attack with Chetan (The Cheetah) and Himanshu. London Welsh (LW) had a relatively decent start having gone past 25 runs for no loss in 5 overs. But then ‘Cheetah’ (Chetan) struck with his sharp paws and ripped through the opposition top order. He got the first opener out with a deadly lbw (after being refused 3-4 previous appeals) and then followed with an express delivery which hit the timbers of the other opener, sending bails flying to 3rd man (What a sight it was). With both openers back in the hut, we thought London Welsh will look to consolidate but instead they responded by some counter attack – especially from their heavily built PP (Prakash Patel) who crunched some exquisite drives and punches. Just when PP was looking dangerous, Samit put on a bait and moved Dhiru in deep extra cover. This was the master stroke as Chetan roared back and got PP out the very next delivery caught in deep extra cover by Dhiru (a very well judged catch ). You can say this was ‘Chetan+Dhiru+Samit’ wicket. Just as Sun was unstoppable, Chetan was relentless and followed with another strike – this time caught by Himanshu (good running catch to his right between covers and extra covers). Now London Welsh started to feel the heat (both actual weather and Chetan’s fiery spell). Chetan eventually finished his spell in one go (8 overs 21 runs and 4 wickets). Unfortunate to miss a fiver. Kudos to Chetan for bowling his heart out despite having his left index finger broken/plastered. He truly bowled like a Cheetah and ran through London Welsh’s top order.

Now it was time for some consolidation and LW started stitching 5th wicket partnership before and after drinks. It was fine while it lasted for 42 runs, but seldom they knew what SCCC had in store. If Cheetah was gone, we had Ahmed bhai (The 'Lion') who came out of his den (bowling after 2 years or so) and made his presence felt with immaculate line and length. LW had no clues against our ‘Lion’ (Ahmed Bhai) and couldn’t put bat to his bowling. Ahmed was simply unplayable and LW were like 15 ‘Play-and-miss’ shots continuously. Finally, opposition batsmen managed to touch one of Ahmed’s ball, but sadly only to be caught by Himanshu at backward point (excellent back paddling catch with ball moving away... Himanshu be like “ Mere 10 feet daaein aur das feet baaein se kabhi ball nahi gujar sakti ”). Ahmed had his 1 st wicket and opposition were down to 123-5. This is where SCCC pounced and Samit brought our trusted and reliable Vasu sir on attack who responded immediately by dismissing opposition Captain and later got another one caught in the deep by Ahmed Bhai. Vasu sir’s spell was very disciplined and helped us check the flow of runs. Vasu sir finished with 8 overs 25 runs and 2 wickets. Amid all this drama, Chetan pulled a run-out getting LW’s top scorer Yash out for 39 runs. Towards the end, Dhiru and Himanshu didn’t let the tail wag and got 1 wicket each, finishing LW’s innings at 185 in 37 overs. Huh what an interesting 1st half it was. But hang on, it got even more interesting in the 2nd Half.

Tea Break – Typical Samosas/spring rolls/strawberries/grapes/wafers/chicken wings/Avocado and Cheese and tomato sandwiches…Dakaaaaaaar the Burpppppppppp

SCCC Batting: Needing 186 to chase, Mohsin and Ashutosh opened the batting with Mohsin on strike. Ehaan (The opening bowler) appeared to be have suspicious bowling action and it was reported to the umpire immediately who decided to carry on and asked us to record from sidelines. Sadly, Mohsin was caught at first slip on the 4th ball of 1st over (an excellent low diving catch by PP on his left…one of the best slip catches I have seen at this level I would say), so hard luck Mohsin. As Tanuj joined Ashu in the middle, LW’s captain bowled the 2nd over – and guess what ????? he was bowling with suspicious bowling action as well. He bowled few balls and then things were again reported to the umpire. This brought the game to a standstill for nearly 15-20 minutes as SCCC couldn’t bear the sight of suspicious bowling from both ends. LW started howling and using foul and abusive language. And then came our Bhishma Pitamah (Vixit Bhai) who intervened, explained rules to the opposition captain, spoke to League chairman and sorted the situation for the time being (We will record their action and send it to league for review). We were back to playing a game of cricket. Sadly, soon after the play was resumed, Tanuj succumbed to Ehaan, being bowled. It felt like LW managed to get under our skin and ruffled us a bit. But not for too long as the 'Lion' (Ahmed bhai) was now on the field. And jab “Lion ata hai to Geedar Shahar ki tarag bhagta hai”. Just like that Ahmed bhai started playing with good mix of composure and counter attack. He took LW bowlers to the cleaners while Ashu was playing very watchfully and gave him good company and built a 38 runs partnership. Just when Ahmed bhai was looking settled, LW got the crucial wicket and pushed us on the back-foot again. LW pounced on this situation and got two more quick wickets, leaving us at 67-5.

Partnership time: Rahul and Samit were in now and slowly took the score board towards 90, settling some nerves. But once again, the Pendulam swung in favor of LW as Rahul was bowled by Mukul (He apparently was the best bowler in LW). Now, Himanshu joined Samit and looked comfortable hitting couple of boundaries and taking singles here and there. SCCC went past the 100 mark. Unfortunately, Himanshu was out run-out, despite the diving effort, courtesy direct throw from third man by PP (the same guy who took the blinder at 1st slip). SCCC were now 106-7 and felt like our wheels might come off soon. But hey, “Jako rakhe sainyann, maar sake na Koiyaan” !!!! The Cheetah (Chetan) was out on the field again with his broken paws. Chetan and Samit pulled the game back in our favor with a crucial 36 run partnership and it felt like we will cruise along from here…

Drama: But destiny had something else written and it was time for some High Octane Drama….. Samit defensively played the ball in front of wickets and stood his ground (not attempting for run, thinking the ball was apparently dead), but the fielder came and took the bails off, claiming a run-out (Shocker isn’t it ……..). After much debate and discussion between the two umpires, Samit was given out (Similar to Bairstow dismissal vs Australia at Lords this week). And the Pendulam once again swung back in favor of LW with SCCC 142/8, still needing 44 runs to win off some 8/9 overs.

Picture abhi baki hai - Chetan was still out there ut and Dhiru joined him. Both started playing with lots of grit and determination – blocking good balls and scoring on bad deliveries. Now the pressure was on LW as they were running out of ideas and energy. This together with some wavered lines, let SCCC get off the hook once again and we were now 176-8, needing just 10 runs to win off last 3 overs. But, but , but, just when Cheetah was looking well set, LW captain (one with suspicious action), got through Chetan’s defence and we were 9 down …..can you believe the dram????? 10 needed of 3 overs and just 1 wicket left. It could go anywhere…Huhhhhhhh. Vasu sir now joined Dhiru for the last wicket. 1st or 2nd ball he faced, took outside edge (perhaps intentionally played way) , wide off the wicket keeper, mis fielding at third man and we got a 4…Now needing just 6 runs off two overs. Dhiru took a single next over and gave strike to Vasu sir. Bowler bowls a ball down the leg, wicket keeper misses and Vasu sir tries to sneak a cheeky single, Dhiru sends him back…Vasu sir slips lying flat mid-way pitch,… But Vasu recovers and tries to get back to the crease as if for his life…Wicket-keeper took the bails off, and runs off screaming with stumps thrown away ….declaring themselves as winners….. it looked all over for SCCCC…We were all gutted on the sidelines, with our hands covering our face. ………But hey, the Keeper didn’t even collect the ball at the time of taking the bails off. He just took off the bails with ball not in his gloves/hands. Umpires rightfully called it Not-Out after another round of drama and heated exchange….Anyways, we didn’t win it yet…needing 3 off last over…Vasu was on strike again. 3rd ball of the last over – Vasu pulls one from the coaching mannual and crunches the ball through covers for a boundarrrrrrrry………Dhiru and Vasu sir did it for us….No more drama now, only celebrations all around in SCCC camp and LW were on their knees.

This brings us to the end of the most closely fought game ever in SCCC history, with so much of high octane Drama. What an Epic chase, it almost reminded me of Srinath and Anil Kumble 9th / 10th wicket chase against Australia in the Titan Cup. Kudos team 4th XI. Special Thanks to Vixit Bhai for all his guidance despite not playing, Thanks Abhi for helping us with scoring and other arrangements, and thanks to all 2nd XI teammates Raina/Avi/Jignesh/Pushpa and others for their much needed support when chips were down.

Thanks

Himanshu Ki Kalam Se