Report from the captain Roxton for season 2006
Roxton II
It was a good year for Roxton II side.
We managed to come 3rd in the second division, having been piped from the second position and a promotion to the first division by Bedford Yardy's. We only needed a win from one of the matches we lost to have clinched the promotion. Bedford Yardy's lost one game less, having a draw in that game, letting them be placed higher by just 2 points. Hope to have a better season this time.
The start of the season was bad as we lost Shahid Mahood, our star batsman, to a mensicus injury of his knee, right in the first match. Zahid and AD Nayar were unable to attend the last few matches towards the end of the season. This was a big blow for us and was responsible for our failure to make it to the top grade. I am sure other teams will have a similar story to tell. Weather played spoil-sport in quite a few of our games and as many as three games were washed out by rain. Hope the weather is better in the new season.
The season saw exemplary performances by Zahid and AD in the bowling department and newcomer Prateek Datta and TJ Gill showed promise with bat and ball. Others showed continued enthusiasm and love for the game. The spirt for win was high in each of the games.
The season saw the last of Sumit who has moved to Australia and Zahid who cannot commit to the team due to domestic restrictions. We shall miss these stalwarts in the next season.
We shall endeavour to play to the best of our ability, fair and competitive and I would like to encourage all to make themselves available on the days of the match as I had quite a job collecting players on that day.
Best of luck for the next season.
Best Batsman of the season: Prateek Datta
Best Bowler of the season: Zahid Habib
Best Allrounder of the season: Zahid Habib
Best New Player of the season: Prateek Datta
Match Report for the season 2007
| DATE | ROXTON II |
|---|---|
| 5/05/07 | Lidlington v Roxton |
| 12/05/07 | Roxton v Putnoe |
| 19/05/07 | Riseley v Roxton |
| 26/05/07 | Roxton v Mowsbury Park |
| 2/06/07 | St Andrews v Roxton |
| 9/06/07 | Smiths Arms v Roxton |
| 16/06/07 | No game for Roxton |
| 23/06/07 | Aryan Afghans v Roxton |
| 30/06/07 | Roxton v Grafham |
| 7/07/07 | Roxton v St Andrews |
| 14/07/07 | Putnoe v Roxton |
| 21/07/07 | Roxton v Riseley |
| 28/07/07 | Mowsbury Park v Roxton |
| 04/08/07 | No Game for Roxton |
| 11/08/07 | Roxton v Smiths Arms |
| 18/08/07 | Roxton v Lidlington |
| 25/08/07 | Roxton v Aryan Afghans |
| 01/09/07 | Grafham v Roxton |
| 08/09/07 | No game for Roxton |
match reporter: C Prasannan
date: 5/05/07
venue: Lidlington
weather:
Rather cloudy throughout the day.The sun came out during the second half of the game. No rains fortunately. Temperature was good. No winds to disturb our game. The pitch was over-watered and was damp. The out-field was atrocious. There was a lot of unevenness which made fielding extremely difficult. The ball would deviate in an unpredictable direction after pitching. Many a times, the player was seen moving to the opposite direction to the ball, a funny sight but annoying to the bowler. The pitch was bouncy from one end and it kept low from the other. There was quite a variable bounce making some balls unplayable. Overall a very badly maintained pitch and ground, making ours look a lot better.
The match:
I won the toss, and would have like to bowl first. But due to bad traffic on Bank Holiday weekend, our players were delayed and I was forced to choose batting.
We started off badly. We lost Shahid at 18 and I followed soon swinging wildly at a good length ball only to edge it to the slip. Chin and AD steadied the innings and we managed to amass 156 runs before getting all out. AD played an innings of his lifetime hitting the ball all around the ground for fours much to the anguish of the bowlers. Thus we managed to get the full batting points (5). So not a bad start after all.
The bowling was ordinary. AD and Chin bowled tightly but the rest of us sprayed the ball all around and thus failed to claim wickets. But to be fair, as many as 5-6 catches were dropped, most of them difficult, I must add but certainly catchable. It just was not our day. The pitch dried up and would not do anything for our bowlers, although AD managed to mesmerise the batsmen with a remarkable spell in which he took 2 wickets. Lidlington managed to make the score with balls and wickets to spare, a good performance indeed.
It was not the start I would have liked, but we were outdone and we have to accept that. A more concerted effort is required from now on. The fielding was very good, but the dropped catches marred it all.
I hope we will be able to beat them in August when we meet them again in Roxton.
match reporter: C Prasannan
date: 12/05/07
venue: Roxton
weather:
There were varying weather reports. Some said intermittent rains on Saturday afternoon and sun on sunday. But I was pleased to see that the rain Gods were kind and let it pour soon after the match, after we got home to watch a disappointing Eurovision 2007. The sun played hide-and-seek, more hidden than seen. Cold winds blew over the pitch most of the time, but not to hinder the match.
The match:
I wanted to bowl to make up for some bad experience with Putnoe in the previous match, with reference to unfair umpiring, in the second half. Unfortunately, I lost the toss and was forced to bat. With the absence of Chin Nayar, I was sure we could not rely on the batting. We had two newcomers, Ravikumar and Didi who showed their ability to play. We however landed up scoring a paltry 91, thanks to some heaving efforts from Didi and a patient knock from Luke Pell. AD Nayar produced some inspired bowling to reduce them to 45 for 4 but total of 91 was not one we could defend, in the end due to some wild hitting they overhauled the total. But thanks to the team spirt, we nearly believed we could do it.........
Date: 19/05/07
Venue: Riseley Cricket Grounds
Reporter: C Prasannan
Weather:
Cloudy day, sun breaking out from time to time. Dry but cold winds blowing most of the time during the first half of the game. Better conditions towards the second half with no winds. Pitch unpredictable with good bounce at times.
The Match:
We lost the toss for the 2nd time. We were put into fielding. With winds blowing towards one end, bowling became difficult for swing bowlers particularly Pierre who struggled to keep the ball in play resulting in quite a few wides and no balls. In the absence of Zahid, AD and Chin, we continued to struggle with the bowling. Newcomers R Sharma and M Didi showed definite talent with the ball and with the contribution from Luke we managed to secure 8 scalps but at the expense of 273 runs, 70 of which coming in sundries. A dismal performance. The worst our side has every done. Having to chase such a mammoth total without Shahid was a truly tall order. But Prateek Datta and Prateek Prasannan made it look well nigh possible with a partnership, close to 100 runs until the ball took Datta's glove to be snapped by the keeper. Some enlighting performances from the lower order gave us a proud score of 175 and 5 batting points. The best one could accept in the circumstance.
Without the main players, this performance could be rated highly, but the fact that we have lost to Riseley for the first time in three encounters, could cast a doubt on our furture prospects. With this loss, we are yet to win a game, we have slid to our lowest position in the league, last-but-one, and in the relegation zone.........Come on guys.....
Date: 26/05/07
Venue: Roxton Cricket Grounds
Reporter: C Prasannan
Weather:
Cloudy and overcast but no threat of rain. Outfied was dry but overgrown with grass, slowing down all hits to the fence. The sun did come out, albeit, for a short spell. All in all a good weather to play cricket.
The Match:
Fed up of losing the toss, I sent in Chin for the toss. We lost the toss and were put into bat. I opened with Shahid. The bowling was fast and accurate. The grassy pitch giving them the lift and unpredictable bounce. Shots that would have fetched a boundary in any other outfield, only produced a single, partly due to the good fielding. After a stand of 27 runs, Shahid was caught trying to hole out for 6. I followed several overs later and soon we were looking at a familiar Roxton batting performance. Prateek Datta played remarkably to score 33 and built up a score of 128. A good score considering that at one stage a score of 100 was too much to ask.
The boys were confident and Raman Sharma and Chin did give them a hard time. A few catches were dropped and the opening partnership produced 46 runs. Soon we had our first success and a two more after that. Big hitting produced a few sixes and boundaries and soon they were cruising. I ended the agony for us by giving away 20 runs in a single over. We only managed 4 wickets in the end. While it does not show up in the score card, we actually bowled well, but some bold hitting did us in. Our 4th loss in a row. Is this ever going to change??
We do have talents but lack of practice is holding its head very high. I have to apologise to Wahid for messing up the team, having called him to play but I found I had, for the first time an extra player.
AD, if you are reading this, better make arrangements to be here next week. AD, Raman, Chin, Luke and Didi should make a formidable attack. While Shahid, myself, Ayush, should concentrate on making big scores. Sri batted very well and played confident strokes on one knee. Well done, guys........
Date: 2/06/07
Venue: Kempston Park Pitch 2
Reporter: C Prasannan
Weather:
The weather was ideal for playing cricket. Sun out most of the time. No winds, temperature just right to go out there without a jumper. Infact, for the first time, I found myself sweating.
Pitch:
Less said the better. There was plenty of grass, but the pitch was uneven. The bounce very low at the Bedford Road end. The outfield was quick but with trees growing within the playing field, it came in the way a few times.
The Match
Shahid won the toss for us after a long time. We chose to bowl. We were confident of containing them. We did very well, thanks to good bowling performances by AD, Ravi, Chin and Luke. Ahad was unlucky not to be among the wicket-takers, a catch having been dropped in his second over at point. We dropped a few chances again this time. Most of them were quite a challenge. But what put us off was the umpiring. This seems to be the trend this season. LBWs, runouts, caught behinds, some fairly obvious are not being given. There is also a lot of subjective variance in the wides and no-balls, especially the full tosses and bouncers. To top it all, the umpires are having a go at the players, making the atmosphere rather tense. At one situation, it did erupt and I was forced to intervene. Luckily, this settled without much ado. I would like to see the reactions in our next encounter with them.
Having managed to take 9 wickets, the highest we have taken this season, for 169, we set about planning our fight back. On paper everything looked neat and compact. The score was certainly achievable. But my failure with the bat continued. The pitch did it for me and I was bowled by a roller of a ball that just slid under my bat. Shahid played some delightful strokes for a good 39 runs and was involved in a partnership of 58 runs with Luke. Chin came up with a quick-fire 33 in which we saw a few powerful hits to the fence, literally piercing the field. His innings indicate his return to form and definitely a better outlook for the side. The score, however, proved a tall order and we fell short by 35 runs. But batting performances from Luke, Shahid and Chin are encouraging. If this continues and with improved bowling performances from Ravikumar and consistently good performances from AD and Luke, the side is shaping up.
W Shafi could not turn up at the last minute and I am pleased to welcome Nathan Pell, our youngest member, to the side. He showed a lot of grit and took a splendid catch, a difficult one by any standards. I would also applaud the return of Aahad who is bowling with a lot more pace and accuracy. Another newcomer to the side is Arun Srikumar. He excelled brilliantly on the field, taking a running catch at third man region. He has a lot of promise and can bat although unlucky this time.
Although the results don't suggest, we are shaping up as a side that can potentially beat all the teams in the division. Only time will tell. Getting the best 11 for all the games, is the toughest task at the moment. I sincerely hope that some of us will sacrifice our saturdays for the game. It is not too late. If we are able to field the best 11 for the rest of our games, we can still aspire for a high position. At the moment, the only thought is to prevent a relegation to the third division.
Date: 09/06/07
Venue: Cople Cricket Ground
Weather:
Excellent weather for cricket. Warm and dry through. The sun was not blazing but just right. The pitch was bone-dry. The grass cut very close. Looked a pitch for batting.
Match Reporter:C Prasannan
The Match:
With a string of defeats and no wins, playing the team that is on the top of the league did not give us much chance. But our guys were keen to get our first win and fight they did all the way.
I won the toss and opted to field. The pitch was dry and looked ideal for batting. But as we did not have AD, Raman and Ravikumar, I did not give us any chance of bowling the team out in the second half.
We started well taking an early wicket at 22. Then things changed for the worse. With one catch behind not given, the 2nd wicket paternship plundered runs and at 140 for 1, our chances were sinking. As many as 4-6 catches were dropped. As a keeper I dropped one as well. I handed the gloves to Luke and took one end and gave Didi the other end. Suddenly things changed. They showed weakness against spin and slow bowling. I got a wicket in my 2nd over and thus brought an end to a huge partnership of almost 120 runs. From then on wickets began to tumble and soon the game was back in our control at 155 for 5. However with some wild hitting and more dropped catches, they managed 216 runs. But for the first tiime in the season we got a team all out, and to cap it, the team that is on the top of the league... There was another first, a personal one. I took, for the first time, six wickets and for only 46 runs. I had 2 oppurtunities for hat trick on the way. But it was not to be. Nathan, Arun took good catches as usual. I had a return catch and Ayush who took over the gloves completed a stumping. Luke got 2 wickets and Didi, one. Didi bowled with tight control and troubled the bat although the bowling figures do not show it.
We set to get the target with vigour. Shahid and I went on to make a half century partnership at 4.5 runs per over. Then Shahid got out. I followed suite and then there was a middle order collapse. Luke held the boat while Ayush with some sensible hitting made up the scorre to 165. Ayush top scored with 40 not out. He even hit one of their bowlers for 3 consecutive 6's. Overall the game was very competetive. We missed a good chance to cause an upset. Thanks guys for a good game.
There is no game next week.
We have secured our first full points (22 points) without playing the game. Aryans did not have a playable ground and thus forfeited the game. It was disappointing especially because the captain had rung me 2 days before asking me if we could play at Roxton. I did not want to take the trouble of preparing the pitch as I was working in the hospital in the weekend. Also he did not tell me that the match would be forfeited if I did not provide the ground. Anyway, the points were much needed. So no complaints.
The weather was also not good. It rained a lot during the 2nd half of the period, so I don't think there could have been a decent game.
Roxton vs Grafham
Match Reporter: C Prasannan
What an anti-climax. The weather, for a change did not play spoil-sport. The Grafham captain did. We all turned up to play. So I thought Grafham also wanted to play. They came in had a look at the pitch and said the captain, " I am afraid of my players getting hit by the unpredictable bounce". It could have brought tears to my eyes, had I not been angry at such cowardice. Haven't they heard of helmets, to protect their lovely beautiful faces? They were clearly looking for an excuse not to play. First, they asked me to start early ( 2 pm start), to which I agreed. Then they say the pitch was not safe to play....... Less said the better.
After bading goodbye, we formed 2 teams among ourselves and had 2 X 10/10 matches. It was quite interesting. All of us got to bat and bowl. The pitch behaved itself quite well. Yes, we had a few low bounces but no awkward high ones.....
Maybe, Grafham should give up cricket and play netball instead........... no facial injuries then......
Match Reporter: C Prasannan
Date: 07/07/07
Venue: Roxton
Weather:
Good weather, not a drop of rain. There was heavy rain not so long ago that the pitch was slightly moist. The pitch was for the first time prepared and rolled long before I got there. All I had to do was draw the crease and put up the stumps. Fairly easy job.
The Match:
My team members must be fed up with me losing the toss. St Andrew chose to field. I opened as usual with Shahid. Shahid left first and then me when the score was only 11. Another debacle to face, I thought. But there was a stiff resistance from the middle order. TJ Gill, returning from his University Exams, showed he did not miss much and produced a good knock of 39, ably assissted by Arun who thrashed the bowlers all around the field and ran between the wickets quickly. Luke and AD joined in and helped us get a fairly decent score of 141.
This could have been a fighting score, but a few dropped catches, especially of the crucial N Chance who went on to score 72 not out, made us feel really inadequate. Catches were truly difficult, but they do win matches, and this summed up our fate. Lost again to a side we still feel we could have beaten hollow. But then we felt the same after every match and we are still to win a single match, a record in itself..........
Raman bowled very well for 2 for 45. So did AD who was unlucky not have got a wicket. TJ Gill was perhaps our man of the match with good batting and bowling performance, not to speak of sparkling fielding. Arun was also good on the field. Never mind guys, let's say we did well............better luck next time....
Match reporter: C Prasannan
Date: 14/07/07
Venue: Bromham Cricket Club Ground
Weather:
For the first time this season, we had a perfect weather for playing cricket. Sorry, did I say 'perfect'? No, No.......near perfect..... We are in the UK, there cannot be a perfect weather. Moderately heavy winds blew across the pitch, converting swinging deliveries of straight ones, and wides out of swinging ones. Always blame the weather when a team gives of so many sundries. But, I must admit,the ground was well prepared. The pitch was hard and should have helped the batsmen.
The Match:
Shahid went in to toss and won it for the second time. We chose to bowl, hoping to make an impact. We did get an early break though. Sagar Kanungo bowled extremelly well and ably supported Raman. Putnoe batted without a care in the world, swinging at everything and was lucky to get the ball in no-man's area. We also dropped a few. AD was at his usual best and took 3 for 21. Sagar took 3 for 46. We were short of getting full bowling points as the last pair denied us this pleasure and added 20 runs for the last wicket. We again failed in the bowling front, inspite of good bowling performances. In the end, Putnoe managed a huge total of 198 for 9 and also managed to lose the ball in the hedges.
Despair again. Can we or can we not make it? I opened with Prateek Datta. The substitue ball looked newer than the ball that was lost and therefore swung quite a bit. Their bowling was tight and we struggled. I think we tried hard. There were some good hits to the fence but the asking rate rose rapidly and finally we ran short of wickets. Prateek Prasannan, Shahid and I made some scores. AD delighted us with some big hits to the fence. In the end we fell short by 60 runs..... A brave effort, to say the least. ..
We need bigger scores, drop fewer catches to win matches. Our fielding was excellent, but the umpiring was appalling and to think that one of their umpires is actually a league umpire, speaks of the standard.....
Well tried guys.......
Date: 21/07/07
Time: 2:30 pm
Weather:
Report cloudy with showers later in the afternoon. It was cloudy indeed. There was a large mass of dark rain-bearing cloud right overhead, moving very slowly. But the sun was shining during the initial part of the afternoon. The pitch was dry and hard but soft in some areas. The grass was not cut to our liking, thanks to yet another lawn mower breakdown. I must thank the captain of Riselely for accepting to play without any moaning.
The Match:
Chin went in for the toss and won. That was indeed a change. Even winning the toss is a big thing for us these days. Does it count towards our 'wins'?
Chin chose to field according to plans. We had a very strong bowling attack with Chin returning after almost 4 matches. TJ, Sagar, Raman Sharma and AD with Chin made a deadly combination and it showed. Besides, they bowled very tight giving away only 3 wides and 9 byes, thanks Luke and his bad back. Chin claimed 4 wickets, AD three and Raman 2 and as there was no 11th man, the innings closed at 58. This will go down as one of our best bowling performances this season and perhaps the best ever. I am quite sure that Riseley must have spend a few nights pondering what hit them, especially after they had scored 270 runs against us in the previous encounter. Such is the beauty of the game. One never knows what is in store until the last ball is bowled.
I would fail in my duty if I did not mention the best two catches of the season. One on the midoff position by Uttaran and the other at point by Prateek Prasannan. Both catches fell well short off the fielders and they had to lunge forwards a-la Jonty Rhodes to get their hands under the ball. The replays are still going over in my head. Brilliant catching and even better fielding. A D held a good return catch too. We only dropped 2 or 3, rather difficult ones.
The run chase was not difficult. We made the required runs for the loss of 4 wickets though. Of course we had the weather in mind and so had to rush through the balls, slogging most of the time and trying for that extra run, that was not there. Arun was run out doing exactly that. His confidence with the bat is improving with each game. TJ produced yet another brilliant batting display and remained unbeaten till the end. Heavy rains came down soon after and lasted a good half hour. Luckily we made it just before the downpour. This could have ruined our match. Credit must go to the bowling and the fielding.
Good Work Guys! Who said we could not win.......!!!! ...Win we did convincingly.... We are becoming like the Indian Team... winning when least expected and in the most devastating fashion.....
Man of the Match: J (chin) Nayar
Date: 28/07/07
Venue: Mowsbury Park Pitch 1
Time: 2:30 pm
Weather:
Fantastic weather, ideal for cricket. Temperatures around 22 degrees, no danger of direct UV rays, clouds in betweeen. Rain nearly threatened the end of the innings.
Match Reporter: C Prasannan
We went in with a strong team. Of course, we did not have Chin or Arun from the previous squad that comprehensibly beat Riseley.... But we had Shahid and Sri.. I send Luke for the toss as I thought a different person would produce a different result. Luke won the toss and we chose to bowl...Why not? with Raman, Sagar, TJ and AD Nayar and Luke and Uttaran, me and Prateek on standby, why not. It was the best bowling attack inspite of not having Chin...
I must mention at this juncture that quite a few LBWs had not been given. But we have accepted it to be the norm. We still managed to get them all out for 154 runs, thanks to wonderful bowling and catching of TJ Gill...This is not to discredit other's performances. Somehow TJ's performance stood out.
The problem started when we started to bat.... They wanted to have their umpire to officate while we batted. This was ridiculous really. We did not mind who umpired while they were batting, then why should they????.........They quoted rules........ I did not agree with them..... I am thankful to Gordon Pell. who agreed to help with umpiring, (non-player umpire). This put off the Mowsbury Park who used the 4-lettered word, so restricted and *****ed in TV shows. Why should they object to our umpiring??? Are we cheats? If we had faith in their umpires, then why is it difficult for them to have faith in ours? Why call for the rules????
Anyway, I was all heated up and so was Prateek Datta. In the end both of us lost our wickets cheaply. But thanks to Shahid and TJ, we coasted safely........... a case of action better than words........
Mowsbury Park have threatened to get us suspended for refusing their umpiring............. I have writtent to the secretary of BEDFORD AND DISTRICT LEAGUE Mr. Appleton. I am still waiting for a reply........................
Everyone was looking forward to a game. We had a good side inspite of missing TJ and Prateek Datta. The weather was conducive to a good game. I reached the ground late, by my standards. To my horror, I find that the pitch was not mown. This was the first time in my life I hated seeing luscious green grass. Where was Richard? What happened? I rushed to his house which was closeby, only to find that he wasn't there and that he was doing nights and so could not do the job....... Why did someone not tell me? Again none of the lawn mowers were working. So there was no way I could cut the grass myself. Ironically the outfield was mown to baldness!!!... inviting comments like "may be we could play in the outfield".
There was no other way of playing as no ground was available at such a short notice. In the end, we had to forfeit the game much to the pleasure of the opponents and the dismay of my team mates.
Thus we had them all this season. Poor start, bad weather, unprepared pitch.....not to speak of lack of basic facilities......Still we forge on.....
Date: 18/07/07
Time: 2:30pm
Venue: Bedford Park Pitch 2
Weather: Predicted to rain later in the afternoon. But knowing the British weather, we did not lose hope of a decent game. The weather however let us down.
The Match:
Prateek captained the team in my absence. Roxton won the toss and in true spirit, guided by the overcast skies, opted to field. Rain came down since the 15th over, but the game continued in spite of it, till at around the 35th over with Lidlington on 140 for 6 and a wet ball, pitch, outfield and drenched players, it was decided to come off. After half and hour, the weather did not appear to ease and so the game had to be called off. Both team sharing the points..
With only 2 more games to go, we are still third from the bottom. We must win the remaining 2 games to salvage some pride.
Date: 25/07/07
Time: 2:30 pm
Venue: Roxton Cricket Ground
Weather:
Good weather. Clear skies, sun throughout belting out a temperature of around 25 degrees. Pitch was prepared all by myself to 'international standards'. There was plenty of grass and some uneven bounce. Favoured some spin at times.
The Match:
Arun went out for the toss. He lost the toss but won the decision. We wanted to bowl first as we were without Shahid, Chin and TJ. Sri was also not available. The Aryans decided to bat and we opened with Raman and Uttaran. The first wicket took some time coming, again thanks to some dropped catches, albeit, difficult ones. The batsmen chose arial routes for most of their shots and was lucky on most occasions. But our bowlers did not lose heart. Soon Uttaran struck, knocking off the stumps cleanly. He did that once more. He took the first 4 wickets to fall in an incredible exhibition of fast bowling. This has come after a splendid academic performance of taking 10 A*s in the just ended GCSE exams. Kudos to him.
He was ably supported by Raman who continued to be a torment to all the batsmen just as he has done right from the start of the season. He was unlucky to have only got one wicket, but he also took a wonderful catch. Arun juggled to take one too. In the end we managed to get them all out for 141, not a bad effort considering that they were bent on winning this game to prevent a relegation. AD bowled well and got 3 wickets while I managed a couple inspite of being rattled by 2 hits over the fence and a boundary in my first over. I too ended up with decent figures considering.
The Aryans wanted to win this game badly as they thought that it would help them prevent being relegated at the end of this season. Because of this they became touchy about the wide calls. Instead of watching where they bowled and thus bowling less wides, they took the easy route of challenging every wide decision,even from positions as far as the midwicket, wherefrom, one can hardly see the ball, let alone the crease and judge wides. The poor wicket keeper had to dive to his left and still could not prevent byes as a result of these wides. One of their players even left the field before the start of the second innings leaving in a sub without even asking me, as the opponent captain. To top this their main bowlers did not even have whites on. They bowled with black shirts, much against regulations. As a captain I was reminded of my role many a times, but I chose not to make these an issue in the spirit of the game. In the end the situation got a bit desparate. While we lost early wickets to raise their hopes of a victory, splendind determined innings from Prateek Prasannan, Raman Sharma and AP Singh got us closer to the target and piled on the misery for the opponents. It was obvious that the finish was getting tighter. The bowlers were losing their nerves and bowling all over the place. More arguments about wide. Thankfully, our umpires, Prateek and Arun remained unfazed by the repeated badgering. It must also be credited to Raman and finally Uttaran to have held their grit and they were unruffled by the situation and carried us home in style and ease with less than an over to spare.
The Aryans mentioned about having two win both their matches to prevent relegation. The only way they could achieve this is, if other teams dont get any points and they win all their remaining games with full points. Which means, when batting first, they score 150 without losing more than only a wicket and take the opponents all out for less than 50 runs, or, if fielding first, get the opponents all out for less than fifty and then score them without losing more than one wicket. Who did they take us for? Sorry guys, we will not see you again next season. All the best anyway.
I am glad that it was over without much ado in the end. Their captain made noise but in the end the teams left amicably. They went home while we went on to celebrate our much earned victory.
It was difficult to decide the man of the match. The choice was between Uttaran and Raman, and I hope all of you will agree with me that Uttaran has more than a slight edge. 4 wickets, one catch and for the batting. Thanks guys, you were superb. So just one more game to go, let us not rest on our laurels....