The final ODI was on the 19th and we won that match leading us to win 3 out of our 4 matches.
Making us the 2nd Most winning team in the Points table.
That led us to qualify for the finals and that too against our Arch rivals... We lost twice against them.
I was playing against them once in the final match of the 10 over Format and than the 3rd match of the 50 over format...
Which i wasn't a part of... i wouldn't be delusional enough to think that me not being there was the reason they lost.
I mean i was a part of that match in the t10 format which we lost pathetically.
But, we played well in the 2nd game.
It was a close call but we didn't have enough batsman in the batting order to pull off a win.
And we lost the match.
2 encounters and 2 losses, It was quite sad honestly...
But, we were ready to take our revenge and we'll sure as hell do it in the Final.
But the problem is I'm no longer the wicketkeeper of the team.
It appears that i was quite good with my bowling so i was told to become an additional Spinner since The team will be packed with Seamers.
Bith all rounders and Fast bowlers will be Chosen because of the pitch Having pace and bounce as A main and the spin apparently won't be as much as it was before.
With the average spin being around 9° and Swing being 11°.
That's why Swing is being Taken as a better option for this pitch.
We don't know what the magic circles and traps will do to the pitch Though.
It's really Important that we get to bowl first and bowl them out cheaply.
...
It was the day of the match and things didn't start off well as we lost the toss and were told to bat first.
and i was Told to bat at the top so i was apparently opening.
This is the playing 11.
S. Gull (R B)
R. Clark (R AR)
Y. Justin (L B)
A. Steven (L AR)
S. Yeverin (R B) (Cap)
N. Restorian (R AR)
S. Samson (WK)
H. Pluster (R AR)
J. Blumming (R F)
V. Clifton (R SP)
A. Samuel (L F)
Our objective was Simple... We had to survive until the end of the 1st session without any wickets...
And score atleast 200 Runs but he seems to not understand what Survival means so i told him getting anywhere near 70-80 was a great score without any wickets.
Heck even 50-60 was enough to make them question their Plans for the pitch.
That's how helpful it is... This damn pitch.
It's a total bowler friendly pitch, I understand what bowlers feel like when they bowl on flat pitches.
Because i was currently batting and was Barely surviving... Surviving by sheer luck wouldn't be an overstatement.
On the other Hand Gull seems to be doing well, Even though i took 112 balls out of the 180 in the session, He's scored the bulk of the runs.
With a total of 27/68 while i only scored 23/113. And we scored exactly 50 runs in the first session without losing any wickets.
We'd found our first benchmark, and the bowlers were visibly quite Pissed by the way we were playing.
Provoking us, Belittling us... I was quite intent to make them know their place but i refrained myself.
Because from here on out i can quicken the pace and maybe help the team score 70-80 runs in a session.
The ball is 30 overs old and it shouldn't help off the pitch much unless it hits a Trap or a magic circle
These magic Circles are quite effective but they are well hid and the moment you hit one Trap it'll automatically disappear and another will show up somewhere else.
It's a real problem to deal with...
...
After the 3 sessions, we were doing quite well for ourselves with 227/3 in 90 Overs...
I took as many as 60 of those overs and scored around 92/356...
I Know it't quite a lot of balls comsumed but that's what a test match is.
We already had the upper hand but, They will take the new abll tomorrow Morning considering it'd be a waste to take it almost at the end of day 1.
That's why i was able to cashin on the runs myself scoring as much as 30 of my 62 in the last 10 overs.
We were around 172 by the end of the 80th over and decided to take on the last 10 overs and successfully scored 55 runs in 60 balls.
Ut was mostly thanks to Steven that he took the aggressive route but sadly lost his wicket after scoring a quick fire 24...
I than took most of the strike hoping to get a 100 at the end of day 1 but i couldn't and Was stranded at 92 by day 2.
And the new ball attack would be problematic, If i can survive the new ball i think i can score good runs.
...
DAY 2
Hmm, I did get to score My hundred but I got out soon after, I got around 102/401 Balls and Slowly but surely the batting line up collapsed because the bowlers were lucky enough to hit the traps on many occasions.
By the end of the 2nd session we ended up losing all of our wickets and ended the 1st innings with a total of 345/10.
It was a mamoth total but if we don't bowl properly we'll be in big trouble...
...
Day 4 (1nd session.)
God, Things couldn't have been worst...
We are in deep trouble...
They played a total of 5 sessions and scored around 342... Just around 3 runs lower than us.
We were Lucky enough to all out them before they reached our target but now... We had the upper hand.
Because whoever has the highest score in their first Innings wins the match if it ends in a draw by the end of the 5 days.
...
Ooh shit... We did not last 3 Sessions and were all out after scoring around 160 Runs 3 Sessions and were All Out by the start of day 5.
We were 5 overs in and were sadly all out for 160 and had a lead of 163 runs.
If they score 164 In their remaining 83 Overs they will Win the match.
That's the problem though Scoring 164 in 3 sessions isn't much of a deal...