Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat

Tonight's indoor cricket game was a pure example of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Here's how it unfolded.

With only 4 players present at the 5:45 pm start, it was only fair that we batted first. Our team mates arrived slightly late but we could only field a team of 7. Batting first, we didn't post a very competitive total considering the calibre of our opposition, who are probably the form team over the last 2 seasons.

The first partnership, which I batted with Captain James, gave us 19 runs. It was a remarkable recovery after having been in the negative after the first 2 overs. A couple of freak dismissals, a few poor shots and some good bowling from the opposition kept us relatively quiet, though I had a bit of fun smashing one of the slower bowlers for a 7 and a 4, even though I got out once. James had a more dismal time with the bat, but we managed to set a small foundation after a disasterous start.

Our second partnership was the best with 37 runs scored. However our third and fourth partnerships could only manage 12 and 18 runs respectively. It was tenderhook stuff; lots of bad shots and bad calling. The opposition were gracious enough to let us choose a batsman who would bat again, and James decided to do a better job of it this time, but in fact ended up once less than his previous effort. Overall we scored 86, and to be honest I thought we were done. The total was not competitive enough against the strength of this team. The only thing we could do was to bowl tight and field with utmost commitment. We treated each of our partnership scores as a mini total that we had to defend with a vice like grip.

We did have a good start, with 21 runs coming from their very strong opening partnership. If we could convincingly defend 37, we would be in with a chance. However they scored 40 runs in their second partnership, no thanks to my slightly expensive bowling. Our fielding was good, but at times it was scrappy. By being sloppy in the field we let them get easy runs. One incident was my fault as I didn't gather the ball cleanly at the top stumps. The incoming throw hit the stumps, hit my mouth on the rebound and then scurried into the back net. The opposition, sensing extra runs, capitalised on my blunder. A couple of wrong umpiring decisions didn't help things either. It was going to be a tall order defending only 12 and 18 runs later on.

With only 14 runs to get from the last partnership it was up to me to close out the final stages of the game. Of course, with only fourteen runs to get, they just need to milk singles and twos where they could. I was chosen to bowl the 13th over, and thankfully I managed to get a wicket after the batsman accidently stepped on his stumps. It was a tidy over, but they still managed to inch closer to their target. Wazza bowled the 14th, and his experience proved valuable as he 'mankaded' the non-striker when he set off for the run before the bowler bowled the ball. Wazza attempted the mankad a second time, but the non-striker was a quick learner and even started to mouth off at Wazza for his tactics. Clearly the pressure was beginning to show on the batsmen, and we were the onces who kept our cool. Once all of us had bowled our alloted overs, there were still 2 overs remaining where 2 of us had to bowl twice. This time the opposition were more cutthroat. With only 2 more overs to get what little runs they needed, they took the safest option. They opted to select our slowest bowlers: Vipal's dad and myself.

I had to bowl the 15th. And it probably wasn't in the team's best interests for me to bowl the final over, as extras, which I sometimes bowl, would instantly kill us. Ever so slowly they milked me for singles and twos, never stepping out of the crease. Always trying to flight the ball, bowl straight and mix up my pace so they were forced to play shots, but they were smart and made their shots with care. After four balls, they got to 92 I think. Suddenly in the next two deliveries, we snapped up 2 quick wickets. The first was a very close run-out, the second was a sharp catch off the nets in the cover position. I was more than ecstatic. With those 2 wickets, our tails lifted and suddenly they were on 82 runs. We were still not defeated yet, we still had a chance. 6 balls, 5 runs to win.

Vipal's dad had to bowl the final over, and he did it superbly. With only 5 runs to get, they got 6 runs after 4 balls, so now they were on 88. Then the unthinkable happened. Rather than bat out the last two balls, they decided to set off for a quick suicidal run. A quick throw at the stumps found its target and suddenly they needed runs to win off the final ball. With their score on 83, the equation was 4 runs off 1 ball.

I ran over to Captain James and quickly pointed out that they needed four runs to win off the final delivery and suggested a field change to protect the boundary. Before Vipal's dad could bowl, we called for a few seconds time to rearrange the field so that the back net was fully covered, a very defensive field. And it worked. Even before the ball was released, the batsman had to come miles down the crease and slog, but it only found the side net for a two. There was a bit of confusion as well gathered the ball. The ball was still in play, but it was not near the stumps. The opposition ran again to force a tie, but with quick hands and quick minds, we managed to run out the batsman. And it was oh so close. I thought the batsman had made it, but the umpire deliberated for a few seconds, the longest few seconds I had to wait in my life, and gave the hand signal that he was out.

We were f****** over the moon with that effort. To defend 86 runs with 7 players against top quality opposition was an unreasonable task, but we pulled off our great escape. It didn't go our way all the time, with some fielding slips and wrong umpiring decisions. The batsmen stormed out of the playing area while we huddled in celebration, but as we walked out like heroes in a battle they congratulated us on our heroic efforts.

This game just showed that indoor cricket is a funny sport. You'll never know how the result of the game will really turn out until the final ball has been delivered. The team came together and put in a stellar performance, a performance that we would be proud of for a long time.