Low full tosses, great catches and ...

Like the rest of India, I woke up on Saturday with an angry feeling after the humiliating loss to Aussies in the T20 world cup. It was a big one sided match and we lost miserably.

But that did not deter me from playing my weekend quota of cricket.

 

With more friends turning up for the matches, we decided on a 8 per side, 9 over match. Mr Y did some pathetic selection and the opposite team was loaded with batsmen. The first match was tragedy of sorts for us in Y's team. The ball was whacked all over the place. Mr R looked inspired by the Aussie openers blitzkrieg the previous night. He took the team total to 90+ including 18 from an over of Mr M. Though the chase began on a positive note, the tasking was too daunting for us. We eventually lost the game by 30+ runs.

 

We started the batting first in the 2nd match. End of over 1 and openers were back in pavilion. Within no time we were 8 for 4 in 4 overs. Then the opposition captain, Mr A decided to give the ball to his part time bowlers. Wides from the bowlers and some good batting from the last pair, took the total to 30+. This was like Aussies getting a target of 80 against Ireland in a 50 over game. The match result was a given for both teams. Without any struggle Mr A's team was cruising towards the target. Mr A sportingly rotated his batsmen, so that everybody gets a chance to bat. 7 runs to go with 5 wickets in hand and plenty of overs. Sun had started to remind us that it was summer. Then Y asked M to bowl (remember the same M who was thrashed for 18 in an over).

 

Everybody thought that the game would end in this over

Ball 1 - Low full toss - Phat came the bat - Ball was in air for a long long time. Mr Y puts down a sitter in long on. Drop number 1. Batsmen take 2 runs.

Ball 2 - Another low full toss - Phat came the bat - Ball was in air for a long long time. Mr AG takes it comfortably. Great catch number 1. Gone.

The rest of the over went without any notable event...The match had not ended.

 

Mr Y bowled (to be honest - threw) the next 6 balls and took the important wicket of Mr R.

So then what had to end by last over was dragged to the next over.

 

2 runs to win and 2 wickets in hand.

Mr M to bowl. Fielders close in.

 

Ball 1 - Yet another low full toss - Batsman whips it to short mid-on. Mr MVN jumps up, tosses the ball and takes the catch on 2nd attempt. Great catch number 2.

 

2 to win with 1 wicket in hand.

 

Ball 2 - Over pitched. Batsman edges. Keeper drops the sharp chance. Drop number 2. Batsmen take a single.

 

Match tied. 1 to win with 1 wicket in hand.

 

Ball 3 - Again a low full toss. Batsman defends it. Straight to fielder. No run.

Ball 4 - Oh...Again a low full toss. Again batsman whips it hard. Mr MKB (B stands for Bheem!) takes a blinder. One handed catch at silly mid-on. Great catch number 3.

Then the usual things happened - celebrations, dull faces discussing on how they threw the match etc etc.

 

So Saturday morning was the tale "Low full tosses, great catches, dropped catches and a Tied match"