Up, up and away

I

n my last post I talked about the probable reasons why I was picked to play cricket on Saturday and I must confess that all my conjectures were incorrect, which actually wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

I wasn’t picked because our team’s kit was in my custody. The team I played for had their own kit – which I too used. Nor was our wicket keeper selected because he had a kit. We were apparently both picked because there was room for a wicket keeper and a bowler in the side.

The match was played in a sports complex maintained by the Pakistan Army. There was tight security – armed patrols in open topped vehicles – and lots of checkposts even before we reached the ground. Once at the ground we could see that we were right in the middle of a high alert army establishment with a sandbagged machine gun post manned by a helmeted soldier and more armed patrolling.

In the background an army band was playing martial music to the beat of the traditional army drummers. Over at one end of the complex it was clear that there was a firing range. We could frequently hear, loudly and clearly, bursts of shots being fired all day long.

Historically, England’s Test matches in Pakistan have often been interrupted by rioting, tear gas and aerial firing which they, with good reason, have found disconcerting. If ever the England team want to practice under simulated conditions to get their players used to threatening environments then this would be the place for them. Constant reminders about the law and order situation in the shape of checkposts, machine gun nests and armed patrolling. Background noises of intermittent firing and army personnel doing their drills to the accompaniment of loud shouts (of what sounded like “Ten-hut”) and the crashing of heavy military issue boots in unison are designed to get the blood pumping.

Well, our blood did get pumped up. Winning the toss and batting first our side managed to score freely early on. In this we were generously helped by some really wayward bowling by the opposition. With the runs coming without restraint and the ball traveling very quickly over a level outfield I felt as if our opponents were short of men.

Incidentally, THEY WERE ACTUALLY ONE MAN SHORT! Their eleventh player was expected to arrive shortly and in the spirit of camaraderie I was asked to help them make up the numbers and I duly complied. It was all very cordial and generous.

The wicket as my younger brother said was in two-tone. There were large cracks at one end while at the other end it was fairly well packed and smooth. You could actually see a triangular patch where the smoothness transitioned rather abruptly into cracking. We decided that when our turn to bowl came our best bowler, a quickish left arm spinner who has actually played first class cricket – albeit in the last century – would be allowed to make full use of the cracks.

Apparently it never occurred to our opponents that their leg-spinner (a young man who had represented Islamabad at the Under-19 level) could make exceptional use of that patch. He had good bounce and the ability to bowl a mean googly which was hard to read. Failure to make the most of what resources a captain has often results in lost matches.  

The score kept piling on till the spinners were introduced. By that time our team had scored 90 odd runs in the first 8 overs for the loss of only one wicket. However, with the ball not coming on to the bat quite as nicely and the occasional kick and jump that the spinners were getting the scoring rate soon started to fall slightly. The situation wasn’t alarming but our batsmen soon started losing their wickets in wasted attempts at picking up the scoring rate. So much so that in the last 12 overs we lost 9 wickets while scoring 93 runs.

I’m sure some of you might remember I opened the batting in the last match that I played. Well, the mighty had fallen and pretty badly too. I was last man in with only 9 balls to go in our allotted 20 overs. I took a couple of singles off as many balls while my partner also tried to keep rotating the strike. With 2 balls to go I decided to risk going over mid-off against the off-spinner. I failed to reach to the pitch of the ball and smother the spin. I know, I know. I deserved to get out… and I did. Do I have to recite the rule that one should never drive against the spin?

Our innings ended with a hiss rather than a bang but we had managed to score 188 off our allotted 20 overs.

When the match resumed after a short break, I was given the ball for the second over and the first ball I bowled was, I believe, the worst ball I’ve ever bowled. It was really short without much pace and wide of the off stump. The batsman’s eyes must’ve lit up and he must’ve smacked his lips too. God knows he had enough time to smack his lips as well as the ball, that’s how slow the ball was. He cut it straight to the fielder at point. Unfortunately for him he didn’t manage to keep it down and the catch was smartly taken. I HAD STRUCK!

I was more exultant about the fact that I had picked up a wicket with the worst possible ball than having got an important breakthrough. There was a lot of back thumping and handshakes all around and then I was coming in to bowl again. I made a couple of balls whiz just outside the off-stump beating the batsman before bowling a couple of wides down the leg. A misfield led to a four and a bad ball resulted in another. But at the end of the over I bowled one just outside off which the batsman managed to steer to point – the same fielder who had taken the smart catch off my bowling – and set off for a sharp single. The throw came straight to me and I was in position behind the stumps. The batsman was caught just short of his crease. We had struck again.

Superman bats

The fielder (he shall remain anonymous) who took the catch off my bowling at point and affected a run out in the same over had earlier also managed to pick up a couple of boundaries before being brilliantly caught at short third man – an unlucky dismissal. His dashing attire when stepping out to bat reminded us of the ‘Man of Steel’ – not the two time ex-premier of Pakistan but the man from the planet Krypton – SUPERMAN!

Superman returns

These early strikes created a lot of pressure on the opposition and for the fourth over of the innings I was taken off and our best bowler came on to bowl and he actually did make really good use of the cracks. It was an inspiring move. The runs dried up and the batsmen started getting desperate.

We were not only able to keep the score down but also pick up wickets with great regularity. Soon enough the required rate also started pressing our opponents to attempt the worst possible shots. Although a couple of them did make valiant efforts to retrieve the situation but it was a case of too little too late.

The opposition had not helped themselves by conceding around 30-40 runs in extras and dropping a couple of catches – whereas we managed to keep the extras down and didn’t drop any catches. Furthermore, just as our main bowler (the left-arm spinner) really turned the screws on their batsmen by using the cracks at one end of the wicket so might their main bowler (the leg-spinner) have done too had he been used from the right end. Missed opportunities can make or break a match and the captain.

In the end we won by around 47 runs – I can’t be sure because the scoreboard was only updated at the end of each over and I didn’t check the exact score with the scorer – and just as we walked out of the ground it started to rain.

It was a perfect end to a thoroughly enjoyable match. Even more so when you take into account the margin of loss in the previous match that I played.

Next post I'll try and write an ode to Abdul Razzaq's superlative batting exploits in the second ODI against South Africa.