It was a bright and sunny, warm day to play cricket! One of those days where winning the toss would have been a great help. But unfortunately we lost the toss and all of us were put out to field first in 30-plus degrees.
We started off well with Tarqs and Parth opening the bowling. Parth came in with some swinging deliveries going miles both ways and got a few top edges off of his bouncers a few odd times and it was not long before he got the nick of one of their opening batsman, like Boland to Kohli, who had to start going back to the trees early on a hot Saturday afternoon to spend the entire rest of the day. Soon to follow were the next two batsmen who were also nicked-off of Tarqs to our prodigal son Yashmeet Sandhu in slips who has recently come back from his adventures in India. They were around 50 runs by the 20 over mark and we knew it was going to be a fight from there on.
Their next three batsmen built a solid partnership at a very good run rate but it was Connor Brown who not only made their ‘Matt Short’ get out (special mention to James Carragher who took a beauty of a catch at short fine leg) but also ran the other set batsman out having had to hit a single stump from point! Special mention to Tygh Kupke and Phil Mayes who bowled beautifully and Tom Adler who took three catches behind the stumps with gloves on!
We were set a target of 164 runs to win in 40 overs.
Tarquin Kloeden: 2/9 off 8 overs
Parth Gohil: 1/29 off 8 overs
Phil Mayes: 1/33 off 8 overs
It looked like a decent enough target for us to chase.
It was Yash and Aditya who were out to open for us and Yash went ‘Jake Fraser-McGurk’ from ouset. He hit the first ball over mid-off for a double and the second ball between mid-on and mid-wicket for a boundary. But a full-length straight ball beat his bat for pace and unfortunately got his pads before the stumps and he had to walk. Aditya soon followed him trying to pull a short ball but failing to do so successfully. Jeremy followed him after a few minutes giving one straight to a straight-ish mid-wicket. Parth looked to pull the very first ball which cramped him up and also top edged it but luckily the ball landed safely. He then calmed his nerves later on and looked steady but he was still cramped and tried to hit one past deep square-leg and got caught. Tygh Kupke was holding off his wicket very well and looked like the only one fighting until a peach of a delivery made his off-stump fall on the ground and unfortunately he had to start walking back as well. We were at a stage where the scoreboard looked pretty ordinary at 5 for 32.
We needed 153 runs and had only three batsmen left with our entire top and upper-middle batting order failing miserably (apart from Tygh).
Tom Adler and Tarquin Kloeden brought their much needed experience here. In their partnership, they looked dead solid. Tom wasn’t shy at all to put the bad balls away and they both kept taking the singles every time it was possible. In no time to the spectators but a life-time for the two on the pitch, they registered a 50 run partnership and looked to bring us very close to the target and give us a chance. It still looked unrealistic though. Tom looked rock-solid and seemed to have regained his top-form before he mis-hit one straight to the bowler and a soft-dismissal reluctantly sent him walking back to the shed. It all looked over and the slightest glimmer of hope had gone with Tom on the chair. But Phil, the man to take over from Tom, came in fearless as ever, blocking the right balls and hitting their main bowler out of the ground into the trees. He took the singles, he hit the sixes, he frustrated the bowler and their captain who is known to be an aggressive, perhaps inappropriately so at times. Tarqs meanwhile held his end well with regular rotations of the strike and let Phil take on the stage and ohh he was going great guns before missing a dipping ball which took his stumps! A great Rishabh Pant-ish cameo came to an end from Phil.
At this stage, we still needed 33 runs to win in less than 8 overs with only 2 wickets to spare. Connor Brown came in and the positive intent from him was clear as day. Their best bowler came on, with heat, and Connor not only blocked the right ones but also put away the bad balls for a boundary and taking singles where possible. Tarqs hit one over the bowler which went near the boundary and Tarqs had already taken 2 runs and felt like he could run to the danger end and complete the third as well but Connor was caught ball-watching during an immensely crucial time of the game and heard the call too late. He tried to make up for his late start of the third run and was running off to the keeper’s end and unfortunately the fielder threw the ball well to the keeper’s end and Connor fell short of the line and was run out. It was a well fought innings but it felt like a battle that had come to its end.
It felt like every little glimmer of hope was being crushed by the darkness of the opposition. We needed 14 runs to win in just over 3 overs. It was now up to a fresh teenager, James Carragher and an experienced vault to somehow manage to not only survive their best bowlers who were bowling some heat but also manage to score the remaining runs.
James was put to the test straight away with the pace bowler not going easy at all and bowling full-pace at him. James’s mind was dead-set to just block him out and indeed he did! We then reached the next over where the captain had grabbed the ball and was bowling a mixture of rolling off-spin and seam-up medium pacers. There was a time when every run felt like a century for each of them. Times could not have been more thrilling and I was at the pitch umpiring. It was Tarqs’ time to face their captain and he bowled a seam-up delivery which unfortunately swung in…. Tarqs comes on the front foot… the ball hits… the pad… Loud yelling in the name of an appeal surrounded me from every side of my being… The desperation for the last wicket to win the match after almost 80 overs on a scorching hot day made their captain give me a death-stare but unfortunately the sun had gotten the better of everybody in the field who could not see the inside-edge that the ball hit off Tarqs’ bat. He remained not out for that over and survived the appeal to fight another ball and another over.
We had managed to reach the 39th over with the last wicket left. James and Tarqs had been going brilliantly and it was time for their captain to bowl again. Tarqs on strike, the ball in their captain’s hand. A double off of the first ball. Dot ball….. Dot ball…. We need just a single run to tie and 2 runs to win… The ball is in their captain’s hand again who bowls a full-ish delivery. Tarqs wants to send that through the mid-wicket for a double and with the experience in him gets on top of the ball and sends it through mid-wicket but the fielder runs and gets to it and limits them for a single putting our young James on strike. One run to win. The nerves start firing like a cascade of meteors into all the folks at Park 21.
Their captain takes his mark for the run-up again. He releases the ball towards James looking for him to make a mistake and give into the nerves of the situation seeking to gain the joys of a win by taking a 14 year old kid’s wicket. Our lad was well prepared and blocked the ball out. Their captain gets the ball again for the last ball of his over. Desperately hoping for a wicket, he overcompensates and sends a full-toss towards James which is going right at the stumps. A ball that is hit or a miss. A ball if he hits, would be our first win of the new year after 80 overs in the hot sun. A ball if he misses, would be our consecutive loss and would be a hard loss to lift the team out of.
James HITS the full-toss and sends it past mid-wicket and connects it well. Tarqs running towards the keeper from bowler’s end takes the single and another run just to make sure that the target is well crossed. We have done it. The lads have taken the team from 5/32 to 9/166! The lads have done it! They have shown immense strength, rock-solid character and a great fight. James taking the two runs off of their captain’s bowling in the 39th over of the 2nd innings in a long hot day was the much-needed icing on the cake.
I am proud to be captaining these lads and can surely say we have not tasted a victory as sweet as this in a very long time! This was one of the matches which we will remember as the comeback game for years to come.
Tarquin Kloeden – 40*
Tom Adler – 40
Tygh Kupke – 24
Man of the Match – Tarquin Kloeden 2/9 in 8 overs and 40 not out. (See attached picture of Tarquin Kloeden and James Carragher from left to right)
Cheers,
Parth Gohil
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funny old game, cricket!
brilliant! what a comeback
a great read! thanks
Rabbit in the Vineyard
What an enthralling summary of a magnificent victory. Congratulations to Parth, James and the rest of the team. Thanks for sharing