Cricket team lost by 3 runs against Kings Al Barsha
Picture credit: Mr Booth
Written by Marzuq Vohra Cricket writer and journalist
Though we, the Falcons, started on the back foot before the game even began, as 3 of our team’s main players were unavailable, we still didn’t let anything hold us back.
Pranav Shrihari got an early wicket giving the Falcons an early advantage. We continued to apply pressure and kept the runs down. Trish Shetty, Falcon’s captain, came into bowl and got a wicket in his first over, caught by Abdul Rehman Rizwan.
However, Vriitya Aravind, a UAE U19 player and one of the biggest names in cricket in the country was giving the Falcons lots to worry about as he wasn’t getting out and played only a few good shots. Thankfully for the Falcons, their most senior player, Mohammed Chowdhury, had no trouble making short work of the UAE player as he bowled him out in the very first ball of his first over.
The kings weren’t still done fighting, together Siddanth Rina and Rahil Bhatia forged a partnership worth 61 runs off just 49 balls. The bowlers began to lose their nerves, giving away a few extras in the process. However, to the credit of the keeper, Yash, a run out put us back in the game. Not long after that Marzuq Vohra (myself) got the wicket of another batsman followed by a skillful, economical bowling by Trish in the death overs. Finally, in the last over, Pranav was handed back the ball to finish the innings off, he did it in style, taking two wickets in the last two balls, one of which was Siddanth Rina, who ended up with 56 of 42 balls.
The Falcons were confident. The captain, Trish, was bold along with his opening partner, Ishaan Khan, who was being promoted from the middle order.
That confidence relayed in Trish’s batting as he got off to a quick start, scoring 17 runs in just the third over. Ishaan too played his part well, rotating strike to the skipper who would put away any of the balls that were just even a little bit off mark, he was on fire. Together, the opening pair summed up 95 runs off 61 balls. Ishaan fell to Vriitya, stumped by the keeper.
The next batsman to walk in was myself, Marzuq, but our partnership didn’t last long as Trish got out caught after spectacular innings. Our captain had scored an amazing score of 62 runs, 36 of which came from 9 fours and 3 sixes.
Now the match was anyone’s game. One more wicket and we would be on the backfoot. So, myself and the Falcon’s number 4 batsman Mohammed Chowdhury knew that we had to build a partnership. All was looking well until a blinder from Siddanth Rina bowled out Mohammed.
Though we had just lost a wicket, we were still in a strong position to win the match as we needed just 47 off 41 balls. Yash, the new batsman in, was raring to go, smashing a boundary off his first ball, then another off his fourth. However, a miscommunication sent Yash walking back to the pavilion.
The tally was down to 31 off the final 5 overs, just a run off a ball. Then with Abdul Rizwan in as new batsman, we had made 10 runs off the 16 over bringing the tally down to 21 off 24. A strong position to win. Suddenly, to our surprise, a shot got me out with just 20 needed of 22, followed by Abdul Rizwan 4 Balls later.
The next over, just went for 2 runs, the pressure was on our batsmen. This led to the wicket of Pranav, the very first ball of the next over.
We ended up needing 11 off the last over. A difficult task, especially for two new batsmen at the crease. The over started on a high. Mohammed Ali hit a 6 off the first ball giving us 5 to win off 5 balls, but to our surprise the bowler managed to bowl well giving just one in the next two balls. This led to a run out of Tayyab Jawed. There was now pressure on Mohmmed Ali’s shoulders, as he found himself stumped on the last ball.
In the end, we lost. Blaming ourselves for the loss, our acting vice captain, Mohammed Chowdhury, told us, “When we lose, everyone can find reasons to blame themselves in a loss. But cricket is a team sport, not an individual sport. When we win, we win as a team and when we lose, we lose as a team.”
Trish, the captain had said; “Obviously, it was heartbreaking, but we have to acknowledge the positives and learn from the negatives”.
The opposing team’s coach even acknowledged our skill; “You boys played with good spirit and passion. As well as that, your sportsmanship is admirable.” So, the Falcons may have lost the match, but we can be proud that we won people’s hearts.
Match Summary:
Venue: Kings Al Barsha
Toss: Kings opt to bat
Comments