Season 2, Game 8 – So They Were Right

Number 3 vs Chennai Youth CC.
Pachaiyappas ‘A’, 27 August 2006.

#3 98 for 8 (Kataan 27) beat Chennai Youth CC 75 all out (Ramesh 5 wk, Sriram 2 wk) by 23 runs.

Yes sir, they were right all along. Ravi Shastri, Arun Lal, L.Siva, every cliché king on the circuit. All of them. Turns out that catches do win matches. And how. Read on, and you will be rewarded with the story of #3’s most dramatic and exciting win to date.

Even the pre game assembly was unusual. To start with, we were playing on a turf wicket again. And when we showed up, it was to see our pals, Agasha group, playing a Twenty20 match, complete with coloured clothing and all. They lost the match and as it was winding down, we made the acquaintance of our opposition, and in particular, their captain, who is worth a bit of detail. He’s a rather strangely proportioned guy, very large round the midsection, sports a huge beard and goes by the unlikely name of Bandook. Honest. It was written on his T Shirt, and from what we could see, none of the others had nicknames on theirs, so I can only assume this to be his actual name. Having ascertained that our record for the season stood at an unimpressive 2-5, he casually mentioned that his team had won all 9 that they had played. They also didn’t want to bother with a toss, asking us what we wanted to do instead. But we told them that we win tosses so rarely, we have no experience making that decision, and asked for a toss. Which was duly lost, and they put us in to bat.

Bandook was injured, and wasn’t going to actually play this game, but he kept up a continuous dialogue with whoever was in the pavilion, as our efforts with the bat were stuttering at best. He wasn’t being arrogant or anything, but definitely on the cockier side of things. We didn’t really come to terms with the turf wicket, and the start from Bulavar and Ramesh was very slow, but lasted a while. When Bulavar fell, Sriram sent Hui in as a pinch hitter and to some extent, it worked, as he played a decent knock. Sriram went in next and they brought on a spinner who was easily the worst bowler any of us had ever seen. His action consisted of taking two steps, coming to a complete standstill at the crease and releasing the ball from well behind his body in a slow loopy arc which took an eternity to reach the batsman. Sriram had enough of this after one over and launched him for six in his next. One more six from him, and they brought on a really quick bowler (with a suspect action, but….) who accounted for Sriram and me, and the wickets kept tumbling. Lex provided valuable runs as the overs ran out, and he remained not out as we finished at a paltry 98 for 8 in 25 overs.

The opposition seemed well satisfied at the break, and were pretty relaxed. But there was something in the air at the changeover and we all felt it. Sriram’s team talk was brief and to the point. We had only one option and that was to give it everything. We set aggressive fields, and Vik’s first spell was tight and he picked one up with Jubbs holding one of the openers at backward point. Things weren’t going great at the other end, and the skipper quickly rotated Joy and Tony at that end but the runs kept coming. Hui put down a straightforward chance off Tony, and shoulders sagged a bit, as the score reached about 40 with just one down. Then Kishore gave us a glimmer of hope with a sharp piece of fielding which ran the one drop batsman out. A window of opportunity, as Sriram tossed the ball to Ramesh, and then things began to happen. Fast. And it all started with Hui. But it didn’t stop with him, as you’ll see.

Remember Kapil’s catch from 1983, the one they can’t stop talking about? Well for the members of #3, it now occupies second place in the list of all time great running-backwards-with-ball-coming-over-your-shoulder catches. As the ball was launched into the air off Ramesh’s second over, Hui at midwicket turned around and started running. And kept running. And covered some serious ground, reached out in front of him, and suddenly, with a primal yell, he was chucking the ball into the stratosphere. As momentum shifts go, they don’t come any clearer than this one, and the team converged on him as one.

Ramesh had the ball on a string by now, and Sriram was keeping it tight from the other end as well. In hindsight, all they had to do was knock it around and pick up the singles, there would have been nothing we could have done. But panic set in and they kept trying the big shots without coming to terms with the pace of the wicket. Ramesh snaffled a couple more, and with them five down, more magic happened. The batsman lofted Sriram in the direction of long on, and Lex started charging at it at a rate of knots. It looked to be a game effort, but the ball was always going to fall just out of his reach. Applauding the try, we started to turn away, but Lex wasn’t having any of that. With one final extra lunge, he reached out and snatched the ball out of thin air, one handed, at ankle height. I kid you not, it was right up there with anything you’ve seen on TV, and the whoops and yells that followed it were unreal. We were walking on air.

That catch stunned them into submission. Sure, with only 25 odd to get and four wickets in hand, theoretically it was still very much in their hands, as the even the number 10 batsman looked more than capable, unleashing one nice drive through covers. But off the fifth ball of Ramesh’s fifth over Sriram took another sensational running catch, and seven balls later it was all over. Ramesh got one off his next delivery, but didn’t even get the opportunity to bowl his hat trick ball because Sriram’s next over killed off the game. He got them nine down by castling the no.8 and two balls later, Bulavar was calmly lobbing the ball to him to complete the run out that closed off an incredible victory. We had sent them packing for 75 all out, in just 14.5 overs.

A mad huddle in the middle of the ground was followed by the handshakes, and though Bandook and Co. were magnanimous in defeat, the shattered look on the face of the opener sitting cross legged on the ground said it all. We had pulled off a sensational heist. What a finish to the season. 3-5, one short of our target of 50%, and only one loss by a margin greater than 30 odd runs. Bring on that season 3. Grrrowf!!

In season2, Game 8, #3 was: Narahoo (c), Kataan, Joy, Hui, Druck, Bulavar (wk), Jubbs, Kishore, Vik, Tony and Lex.