That extraordinary match with Spartans played exactly an year ago as recounted by R.Ajay Kaushik. (2/3/2009)
Today was the day when the whole team experienced the entire gamut of emotions right from anguish to unbounded joy,extreme tension which made even the spectators watch with baited breath (the lesser said about the atmosphere in the team dug out the better). This was the match which we pushed to, by our own buttery skills (7 dropped catches), the jaws of defeat, but somehow the skills of our bowlers ensured that the M.Techs couldn't cross the magical figure of 100. Special mention has to be made about Gopal who has made it a habit to pull of a blinder every match and of Bala's commitment who was playing the match with a badly fractured finger.
For all those who felt that the first session was dramatic they were in for a surprise when Malindu walked in to open the innings with Prashanth Baptist to chase down the target of 93 runs. And when the chase began little did we knew about the true nature of the pitch. From 19 for no loss we slipped to a pathetic 26 for 4 with Malindu, Baptist, Tilak and Govardan gettin out in quick succession. That was the time when Rajkumar walked into the crease to give company to Arjun Devgan. This period of play gave us some hope and Arjun's straight six reminded us of the Tendulkar of the 90's. But the ship was rocked again when Devgan got out with still 40 runs remaining to be chased down.Then I came to the crease. Just when everyone was thinking that the ship would reach the shore safely, a calamity of sorts struck with 3 wickets falling for 2 runs which included 2 freakish run outs! Our hopes were fast flickering out.
75/8 - In walked the No.10 batsman Bala after the fall of Dinesh Jayasekara's wicket - his walk shouldn't inspire confidence in the first place what with a paltry batting average of less than unity! But he had other plans for the bowlers. With still 16 required off 13 deliveries, he took everyone by surprise (including all of his own teammates) when he unleashed a cracker of a reverse sweep and guess what.. the ball only landed well past the ropes! Sixer! That lusty blow brought down the required equation to 10 runs from 2 overs with 2 wickets in hand. If this wasn't sufficient, 3 balls later the penultimate ninth wicket fell in the form of yours truly who got out to a full pitched swinging delivery. 83/9 - In came the gangly Ashish Ranka. 10 required from 9 balls. Last pair in the middle. Singles were being taken off every ball and they were cheered as if the batsmen in the crease were inching towards their triple centuries.. Last over and we still needed 8 runs to win. Every step towards the target made it look farther away. The first 4 balls produced 5 runs (1,1,2,1) and the equation read: 3 to win off 2 balls.. the entire team (even the players in the middle as revealed later) were hoping for a tie. The penultimate ball was pitched up to Aashish and he struck the ball and the ball stayed hit till it reached rolling towards the extra cover boundary.. Phew! The match was won with 1 wicket and 1 ball to spare..
It was like the calm before a storm but what followed it later was a storm of people charging towards the heroes of the day - Bala and Ranka. This was 'the' match and we were the first team to qualify for the second round. This is the match which will be written down in the almanacs of Willow Cup and people will look up to to this match for inspiration. After all it is said that when the going gets tough the tough get going and Marauders are tough enough!
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