And so ends the cricket season...

We ended our cricket season on a sour note!
Just today our team lost the semi final match in the Group A league.
It is a sad thing because, this was a simple match to win and we lost it!
Here is how it happened.

Initially, when we bowled first, we had the opponent team (Fateh CC) crawling at 16/4 in 6 overs. But a couple of batsmen with help from some difficult catches that we missed, managed to make 60 in the allotted 16 overs - a run rate less than 4 an over.

We started our reply pretty confidently and scored 9 in the first 2 overs. I was one of the openers and faced the bowling. We lost our first wicket when my opening partner was caught and bowled very tamely. In came our captain. Our captain normally comes 2 down. But today he just thought he have a go at it and came in at 1 down. We lost him too - for a good catch taken by the point fielder running backwards. It reminded of the Kapil Dev's catch of Viv Richards in the 1983 World cup finals.

In the mean time, I was playing pretty decently. I had scored 12 runs with all of them coming over the off side. I was connecting just about everything on the off side. The bowlers got frustated as I beat the offside field (point and slip) time and again to steal a single or two. I was going great when I did what our captain had warned me not to at any cost.

It was the 7 over and we were 20/3. I was accompanied by a very able batsman (Gautam) who could hit the ball hard with ease. All I had to do was to rotate the strike and run his doubles. The bowler was Ilyas - a slow medium bowler - who bowled a tempting but dangerous line. A line that looks drivable, but should all costs be hit on the back foot. First ball of the over, the same tempting delivery and drove the ball. Unfortunately, the ball was no where to be driven and it ballooned up to the sky. After a long time in the air, the point fielder caught it very great ease. I had again got out on 12. People say that I am jinxed - to always get our at 11/12. It is the 5th consecutive time that I am getting out for this score.

I was replaced by our star player, Sandy.
The very next ball my partner (Gautam) got out too - caught at mid-off - just inches of the ground. This brought in Sujit. Sandy and Sujit played a very cool innings and kept the score board ticking. Then came an over where we scored 9 runs and this took a lot of pressure off us.

All of us thought we were almost there when Sujit got out for a shot on the on side. He wanted to get a couple of runs on the rarified field on the on side. But unfornately ended up scooping the ball in the air.

In came our other star batsman, Ram. This guy has played Under-13 tournaments in Chennai and is a very goo striker of the ball. Sandy and Ram were getting singles and doubles very well for some time.

Disaster struck when Sandy mis hit a ball - to the keeper - and did not realize that the ball was with the keeper. He was stranded in the middle of the pitch and keeper stumped him without any hurry.

Ram was in the middle with our last player - Madhan - a very able left arm bowler. We expected Madhan to block the deliveries but it would haven been unfair on our part to expect him to score the runs.
We had 14 runs to score in the last 2 overs.
Ram tried some valiant swishes of the bat - but did not manage to connect even one. The ball was never there to be hit.

Ram finally pulled the ball into his stumps and our innings thus ended.

As a team, we had graduated from Group C to Group B and then to Group A - in the past 3 tournaments. We could have entered the Finals if we had finished this game correctly.

May be we were not meant to be there in finals! We have dispersed for a break in our cricketing schedule. We would regroup again in February/March next year to play in the next Group A trounament.

I just hope that I continue the same form that I am currently in and break the 'glass cieling' of 11/12 runs in the next tournament!