14 runs were needed off the last over. This was a match befitting of a final. Yagna was given the task of bowling the last over. Punjabi Pride was definitely hanging in there hoping that they could pull of a dramatic victory. I must admit I was a little nervous and was biting my nails when Yagna started running in to bowl the last over. Yagna was slightly off color and had bowled his fair share off wides in the game. But he delivered when it mattered the most; five good balls yielded only seven runs. Seven runs off the last ball. What a fitting climax to the tournament. Six to tie the match. I had a word with Chintan asking him what would happen if the match ended in a tie. A bowl out was what he said with a chuckle. I was pretty sure that we would win the match, but being a pessimist the thought of a bowl out crossed my mind. Yagna ran up to bowl the last ball, hearts in my mouth. It was a good length delivery, and the batsman wildly swung his bat, but connected only the few mosquitos flying around. Sreeram safely collected the ball, and removed the bails, just in case batsmen attempted a run. No run was scored on that last ball and we had silenced the Punjabi Pride!! We were champions again. Wow…Dead, buried and written off a few weeks back, playing spirited cricket when it mattered the most, the Virtual Reality bounced back from the ignominy of being dumped out of the tournament even before the knock out stages began to convincingly beat Team Waqas and PUCC in the quarters and semis and then defeat Punjabi in a close encounter.
Earlier Appu won the toss and elected to bat. It was good that we won the toss as he had batted well in the semis and quarters running impressive scores when it mattered the most.Appu and Yagna started off. Yagna was soon run out (for the umpteenth time). Bharath joined Appu at the middle. Bharath was in irresistible form, striking the ball brilliantly. His six being the pick of his shots left us wonderstruck. This was the best we had seen him bat. The innings quickly picked up momentum Appu at the other end started off slowly with a few delicate slices. Appu was all elegance, shifting gears with an effortless six and an amazing flick which brought him a boundary. Runs started to flow, as Punjabi Pride wilted under the onslaught. The bowling looked sub standard, the fielding looked ragged as the two of them made merry at their expense. Their partnership of about 75 finally ended when Bharath was run out. The two of them were playing so well that a run out was the only way they could have got out. A soon visibly tired Appu soon followed him back, after a well made 42. The two had propelled us to a total with which we could not lose. Punjabi Pride were in run containment mode, their fielding once again let them when Moorthy and Jaggu ran four runs off the last bowl. From our point of view it was a fitting end to our innings. We finished at 102. We were definitely in pole position at the end of the first innings. It was up to us to bowl and more importantly field well.
We knew that Punjabi Pride had nothing to lose and will definite
ly come out fighting. That is exactly what happened.Jay and aditya looked comfortable against both Moorthy and Jaggu. Though runs were not coming a t very fast rate, they played sensibly keeping wickets in hand. Jaggu was looking slightly off colour. They were up to 38 when there was Appu decided to have a bowl. It was a crucial time in the match. It was evenly matched probably we were slightly ahead at that time. The change soon worked as Appu and Sriram combined together to remove Aditya. Yagna then had a bowl. It was definitely not Yagna’s best performance with the ball .He was inconsistent initially with his line sliding down the leg a couple of times. We got a lucky break when Ronak tried pulling a short one from Yag only ended up with a top edge which came straight to me. Unfortunately for him, I held on to the catch. Jay was batting well threatening to take away the match from us. His run out was probably the turning point.Vishesh and Qasim tried hard to make a match of it. The reqd run rate was climbing. Moorthy in his second spell cleaned their stumps. His aggressive reaction to Qasim’s dismal was a result of both anger (at being hit for a boundary the previous ball) and relief. We were on our way to winning the Indoor league for the third consecutive time.
Three cheers to Virtual reality.
Hip hip Hurray
