Main Umpire: ANZAC Leg Umpire: SCCA
MAN OF THE MATCH QAISER MAHMOOD....58 RUNS I STUMP AND 2 RUN OUTS
Well! What can I say about that game it was nerve breaking and thrilling until
the very last moment! TCC almost won that game but HPCC managed to jerk it off
their iron jaws.
Regardless of hurricane Ivan we were able to play our QF game. We could have not
asked for a more beautiful day and a fully dry ground (well, almost). TCC & HPCC
decided earlier in the week that the game would start a little bit late so the
ground would get the chance to dry. After all, it turned out to be a good
decision since it worked well for both teams; we played a very interesting and
exciting game.
TCC and the two assigned Umpires were at the ground on time, the ground was
prepared, boundaries were marked and every one was more than ready to have some
action. TCC won the toss and decided to bat first. The HPCC, team could not have
been happier with that decision. The wind was blowing wildly. HPCC believed the
wind factor would work on their favor. Wrong! With the idea of the wind provides
a better chance to break TCC’s solid batting line up HPCC started the game
enthusiastically. No one was prepared for the surprise the wind had in store for
us. Circumstances turned out to be against HPCC, the team ended up giving lots
of extras due to wide balls and poor ball control. Gee! Thanks mighty wind!
TCC open their first inning with two of their best batsmen (Ravi & Charan) The
TCC opening batsmen did not have any problems with HPCC pace attack (Manzoor and
Mudassir) and managed to keep the scoreboard ticking, on the other hand, HPCC
was desperate to break that partnership which kept growing dangerously as time
went by. After the 7th over, the HPCC captain brought himself into attack and
try to break the TCC batsmen partnership but had no luck. Akbar was brought on
board to try to increase the “attack” and finally got a break by getting a
wicket on Ravi which was caught by Bilal on deep extra cover. HPCC desperately
needed that break to get back in game. TCC’s solid batting line could have hit
big during the last overs if they have had wickets on hand. By the end of the
15th over HPCC still managed to give 75 runs. And only one wicket had been taken
down with the help of Akbar & Hafeez’s nice bowling. TCC had had a solid start
with 75 runs on board and only one wicket do!
wn.
The HPCC captain gave his boys a little pep talk during the break. The team
discussed how to keep the score low and ways that wickets could be taken down.
Hafeez listened oh too well! And in the very first over after the break, took
Syed’s wicket whose ball was caught by Mushtaq at backward point. The next man
at bat was Shibu, who started his inning striking nice and short though, he did
not counted on the response his team was getting ready to get on the other end.
Akbar struck again and got the of Charan Gowda’s wicket. Relief could be read on
all HPCC players’ faces when Charan was taken out of the game since his team was
getting very dangerous and hitting the ball hard.
After the 20th over TCC had 104 runs on board and 3 wickets down. TCC then
decided to go for it all. They knew that to win the game they really had to
start hitting seriously. Shibu, a dodgy man, hit so well that after the 30th
over TCC had 192 runs and 8 wickets down. Shibu made 58 runs, not out. HPCC gave
almost 90 runs in the last 10 overs. Those runs could have easily cost HPCC the
game.
TCC folks really put up a nice fight. The total runs on board and their hard
work were more than apparent. HPCC team provided lunch for both teams. (Buriyanni
with Riyata) Special thanks to Fasial & Mudassir’s moms, and Qaiser Z & Ghias
wives for preparing such a nice meal.
After Lunch HPCC old men wanted to take a nap! The captain did not let it happen
and sent Hafeez and Manzoor to open the first batting inning. HPCC suffered a
big blow when Hafeez got run out at the score of 35. Hafeez had only made 4 runs
while on the other end Manzoor was playing his shorts. The next man on line was
Qaiser Z, after such a heavy lunch he could not move as gracefully as he has us
accustomed too, and gave his wicket the score showed 43 when Qaiser Z got caught
Raj superb Mushi tagged along to bat. Mushi and Manzoor tried to keep the score
ticking. TCC brought their best spinner on attack; they were keeping their line
in control and were determined not to let any of our two batsmen score. The
pressure was almost unbearable for the HPCC batsmen. Manzoor tried hard to score
more runs but got caught behind by Syed at the bowling of Chiran that was
another blow to HPCC’s moral. HPCC started feeling the heat, the team was
loosing wickets rapidly and runs were not coming easily. TCC bowlers surprised
HPCC by keeping the best lineup while taking wickets.
At the 15th over break, HPCC had lost 5 wickets and had only 84 runs on board.
The HPCC captain seemed worried; there were only five batsmen back in pavilion
and his team needed 108 runs in 15 overs. The team has all its hope on those
five batsmen. There was a feeling of anticipation among the HPCC players since
there were two well skilled players on wicket. Qaiser Mahmood and Akbar Qureshi.
Akbar was clean bowled by Natraj. Qasier M. really showed his class in this
game, and kept the target in achievable manner. Captain then sent Bilal to join
Qaiser. Bilal showed a lot of character and gave a lesson to the rest of the
team on how to handle pressure. Bilal started building a solid partnership with
Qaiser, which, needless to say, HPCC needed badly. Both players took the HPCC
score up to 155 runs in 26 overs with the help of huge sixes from Qaiser and
nice running between the wickets by Bilal. TCC got a premature taste of victory
when they managed to get Qaiser out when the !
score was 155 runs in the 26th over .The catch that got Qaiser out is definitely
worth mentioning, Rajesh did a fantabulous job, so did Arvind bowling.
The pressure continued to build and the adrenaline rush was hard to stand. It
was the turn at bat for the HPCC Captain, had the possibility of sweet victory
or bitter defeat on his very hands. There he was, a combination of piled up
years (that like it or not always leave their mark) and a thirst to win. On the
very first ball the Captain bit it out of the boundaries when TCC tried to pitch
him short, some of the spectators were amused to know he was still able to see
the ball. At the end of the 26th over HPCC had 163 runs for 7 wickets.
The Captain knew the guys wanted to play on the semi-finals. He also knew that
his performance within the next 4 overs was crucial. HPCC lost all his big
hitters and they still needed 29 runs (an almost impossible task to achieve).
With all the help of Malik (Baba) experienced advice and Mark’s special prayers
Captain manage to bring the target very close when he hit two Big sixes and one
four. On the other end Bilal gave very valuable singles and doubles plus a great
deal of support to Ghias, so he could keep his cool and continue hitting. HPCC
needed only 7 runs in 2 overs. Bilal kept his head down and gave the strikes to
Ghias (the Captain) who still has some juice left in him, and finished the game
in that very over with a huge six. He made 31 runs in 13 balls. Bilal also added
31 marvelous runs. This game was many things, nerve wrecking, character testing,
and faith challenging, but I bet we all would be willing to live it all over
again!
The HPCC team would like to extend a big thank you to the ANZ & SCCA umpires for
their great job and fair consistency throughout the game.
Ghias ur Rehman
Captain