Cricket Review:Match 1 - Adada paer vaikaliye Vs Marathas

First an interesting note on the name of the first team. ADADA PAER VAIKALIYE (we arent named yet). When the cricket season starts in our office, the office gets buzzing with talks on forming the team. More than forming the team, we get very concerned about naming the team first and come up with some catchy!!!! names to create a stir among our colleagues. In a pursuit of such a catchy name, this team didnt get any good name..

There would always be an interview of the captains one day before the match and the same would be aired in the lunch hall TVs. This team wasnt named until the time the captain was called for the interview. Hence, when the interviewer asked about the name of the team, they simply utterred "Adada paer vaikaliye".. which the interviewer mistook for the team name and that stayed on. Moreover, they werent a full strength team of 11 and they were running from post to pillar to get people into their team. Somehow after all the confusion, they formed a 11 member team and assembled in the ground on the day of the match.

Their opponents Marathas were quite a strong team and they were predicted to reach atleast the last 4 stage of the tournament which comprised of 32 teams.

THE MATCH STARTED...

The Marathas were put in to bat in the 8 over tennis ball match, which took place in the MCC college ground, chennai. The Marathas being a strong team, marauded the poor bowlers. The ball was in the air for most of the time and the fielders got tired in running and fetching the ball from beyond the boundary. Such was the scoring rate that the Marathas accumulated 76 runs in their allotted 8 overs.

The turn came for the great team to bat. The players had a huddle, discussed stratergy, decided on who is going to open the innings. In went the openers, with their captain Subash cheering them from outside and giving them some last minute tips. The bowler got himself ready and he was in a tremendrous pressure to perform (his fiance was watching the match from the stands). No wonder he was under a great pressure. The batsmen were also under pressure of having to chase the mammoth target ahead. The dressing room!!!! was also tensed. The audience were eagerly waiting for the match to resume.

The batsman took gaurd and waved the bowler to have a go. The bowler came rushing in and bowled a rank full toss ball. The batsman's eye got lit up and aimed a full blooded heave at the ball. There it went a good distance with a good sound of the ball striking the timber and the stump laid flat on the ground a couple of feets away from where it was. IT WAS A WICKET.. that too off the FIRST BALL. The bowler was ecstatic for having maintained his reputation intact (infront of his fiancee). The fielding team was celebrating. The batting team even got tensed. So, the next batsman came rushing in with a plan and determination. The bowler got ready and came running in, bowled the ball and again struck the timber. two wickets in two balls and he was on a hat-trick. So, in came the next batsman with a great aim of atleast avoiding the hattrick for the bowler. The bowler got ready and came running in again and delivered the ball. The batsman was successful in his attempt to touch the ball and save the stump, but he was not so successful to keep the ball out of reach of the keeper. yeah.. he edged the ball, which the keeper pouched safely. so it was a HATTRICK. The bowler was over the moon. Everybody was around him and giving high-fives and literally lifted him off the ground.

In came the batsman no 4 and got ready to face the fourth ball. The ball was delivered again and it was played safely, away from the reach of the stump or the fielders. Atlast a ball without a wicket, a little success for the batsman and for the team. The crowd was roaring and the batting team jumped in joy for not losing another wicket. But, their joy was short lived as the next ball, the batsman in form(remember, he was the only one to face more than one ball till that time) got over ambitious and tried to loft the ball out of the ground and inturn lost his stump. Another wicket and 4 wickets in 5 balls. Wat a match the bowler was having and that too in front of his fiancee. He definitely created a lasting impression and he should be thanking his stars. The next ball didnt produce a wicket.

After the event ful over, the runner atlast got to bat after witnessing his teammates coming in and going out immediately. Started the next over and after the very first ball, this batsman too joined the posession to cool his legs under the cool shade of the pavilion(a tree). Yes. it produced another wicket. This became quite predictable and that over produced another wicket in the form of a run out. The batsman almost got the first run of the innings, when his dreams were shattered when the stumps were shatterd in the form of a direct hit by the fielder when the batsman was just short of the crease. The batsman couldnt believe his eyes and he literally kneeled down in the ground after failing to cross the crease.

Came the third over, from the first over hero and the first ball again produced a wicket. In went their captain subash, with a great hope that he could atleast steady the ship. He was in the runners end when the dramatic thing happenned. The bowler bowled a wide delivery and the team has opened its scoring account. There was a huge cheer among the crowd. The batsmen got happy and wanted to add some more to the score which cost them another wicket. 8 wickets lost for 1 run. The next batsman who went in scored the first run of the team and raised his bat towards the pavilion and there was again an instant cheer among the crowd. So, the captain went in and the team score got off the mark. With his job over, he too gifted his wicket in the same over. 3 wickets of this over too. The analysis of the bowler read as 2 overs-1 maiden-2 runs- 7 wickets. What a day that too in front of someone so special. He indeed bowled a maiden over. finished the over and there was a spring in his step and marched towards his fielding position.

The game progressed to the 4th over and got over mid way through that over. The team got bundled out for 2 runs. 2 RUNS ALLOUT(courtesy 1 wide). Wat a dramatic match. The positived minded people they were, the batting team were cheering and celebrating more than the winning team. They lifted the batsman who scored their first run and took him for a round in the ground. All the crowd were around the losing team and left the team that won unnoticed.

The stratergies got ready for the second match and they came back with a spirited perfomance in the next match (will be logged in the next post)

To be continued .....