Welford ParkWelford Park vs Frimley Green Cricket ClubFGCC

Opposition won the toss and chose to bat first. Our skipper Swaroop also wanted to bowl first, so everyone started the day happy.

Rohit and Ritesh opened the bowling beautifully, squeezing the batsmen so tight they were practically playing in slow motion. In the third over, we had a run-out so obvious - even the batsman’s shadow was out. But the leg umpire apparently had a loyalty plan with their top-order and didn’t want them to leave so early. He refused to give it. Very unfair, but Sunday cricket umpires are like weather forecasts - you can’t trust them.

Rohit finally broke through with an LBW in the fifth over, denting their morale so badly they started batting extra cautiously. Ritesh followed with a maiden, because why let them breathe?

By the 10th over, Ritesh got another wicket, thanks to a neat nick collected by Pinang. Then came the full-toss special from Ramesh - the batsman tried to lob it, but instead sent it straight up to the moon. Pinang waited under it long enough to file his taxes before catching it.

Next over, Ramesh was smashed for 17 runs, which offended him so deeply that he uprooted the stumps on the last ball out of pure emotional rage.

After drinks, Swaroop unleashed the spinners. Their batsmen reacted like someone had switched the pitch to “Expert Mode.” Run rate collapsed, wickets fell, Swaroop began the cull with a clean bowled and Guru joined the party with a caught-and-bowled that looked like he’d planned it the night before. At 127-6, we were taking control of the game.

Shankar then went full Thanos - taking the 7th wicket and then the 8th and 9th wickets in two consecutive balls. We surrounded the batsman like a pack of wolves for Shankar’s hat-trick, but sadly no catch came.

At 142-9, we were ready to wrap it up… but their last pair suddenly decided to cosplay as Test cricketers. They stuck around for 8 overs, added 37 runs, and finished at 179-9. Annoying, but manageable.

Then came our batting.

Amit and Pinang started leisurely, as if chasing 179 was a Sunday stroll. Two maiden overs didn’t bother them, but the fifth over did when Amit missed the line, the length, the ball entirely, and got bowled. Two balls later, Pinang followed him, misjudging the trajectory and was dismissed. Shiv joined the “clean bowled club” in the 8th over in the exact same manner. At 25-3, the alarm bells were ringing loud enough to wake the neighbourhood.

Then Ankur and Rasheed got out in the 10th over, two balls apart, and it was panic all over. Apparently we were doing buy-one-get-one-free dismissals. At 33-5, the game was slipping faster than a bar of wet soap.

Swaroop and Shankar finally said “enough drama” and built a brilliant partnership. The chase looked back on track, until after 80-run partnership in 15 overs, Shankar was dismissed by an in-swinger.

Guru joined Swaroop for a steady 19-run stand before departing. At 132-7, we needed 48 runs in 9 overs - very doable, except for the small issue that our wickets were falling like autumn leaves.

Then Swaroop got caught in the 34th over. Tension skyrocketed. Bishnoi fell four balls later. Now it was 29 runs needed, 1 wicket left, 5.5 overs remaining, and it was in the hands of both of our opening bowlers Rohit and Ritesh, who had done so well in the opening bowling. Would they similarly finish it off so well?

They started well - singles, boundaries, hope. The chase was alive.

Then came that moment.

Last ball of the 37th over. Ritesh smashed it straight to the mid-off player and ran for a suicidal single while Rohit screamed “NO!” like a man trying to stop a toddler from touching a hot stove. But adrenaline had taken over and Ritesh was already 70% down the pitch when he realised the situation. He turned back, but the fielder had already thrown it back to the keeper, who calmly removed the bails, and our hopes evaporated like British sunshine.

We had gone for the IPL style rule of free hits on no balls. Opposition got 3 NBs to play and we got 5. However neither team got any benefit out of them as they got maximum 1 run in free hits.

Our fielding was very tight and barring few exceptions, it was exceptionally good. Our bowlers did an amazing job at restricting opposition to 179 runs. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our day during the batting innings and we lost the match, which we could’ve won in ten different ways, but chose the most frustrating one to lose.