Inspite of the absence of the dangerous pair of SamD and AbhijitG , Foobar Software continued its impressive run under the able leadership of former Kings College mainstay Raj Malhotra (seen alongside, in his Kings College days) here at the Ghorpuri Grounds in Pune. Foobar beat Indiglo software by 34 runs, a comprehensive victory which would have been even more comprehensive but for an eventful over from the skipper himself. The match itself looked in jeopardy before Messrs Ram and Lakhan with Army personnel in tow salvaged the situation and the match began as scheduled one hour after the teams arrived. After careful analysis of the ground available to both teams, a fairly level patch was designated as the pitch for this historic clash and following an initial struggle to get the stumps into the ground, the toss was held in the centre of the patch which now many had begun to acknowledge as the pitch. As is his wont, Raj won the toss and elected to bat first, much to the anguish of yours truly ( However, fortunately Yours truly was proven wrong at the end of it all).According to local trivia pundit Zalil Khajur, Raj, to boost his captaincy skills, took a course in 'How Cricket tosses are won' at the hallowed Kings College. He now goes into a toss with a probability of 1.5 of winning. The match commenced thereafter under the watchful eyes of an Army JCO and Lakhan seated royally near the cover boundary.
Soon out walked Raj and Yours Truly to face the attack of Indiglo software, an attack, I must add here, that had not yet been analysed by our resident analyst Prem Khurana for want of necessary 3gp video footage. After what looked like a solid start, Raj, tempted by the shade offered by the makeshift pavillion under the Banyan tree, decided to throw his wicket and out walked Sarkeshwar. With a menacing look towards all and sundry, Sarkeshwar Dutt took guard for the first time for Foobar Software. After a brief look at the pitch, Sarkeshwar in a bid to accelerate the innings, tried to go over long on only to be brilliantly caught by the fielder positioned there. Meanwhile yours truly enjoyed every minute of the SuryaKiran aerobatics display in the skies above us. In came Karan and He and I pieced together a decent partnership until the 13th over, when Sarkeshwar who had taken over from Karan as the umpire, decided that he had seen enough of my batting and issued marching orders to me. Arjun, who came in at the fall of my wicket, played a gem of a cameo that included a massive six. Karan and Arjun then ensured that there were no more hiccups and Foobar posted a mammoth total of 112/4 in 16 overs.
Our opening bowler, Arvind Swami, who kept worries concerning his build back in office, did more than an awesome job of the bowling. He was ably assisted at the other end by Fattu, aka Monty Panesar who had had a sleepless night fiddling with his new camera. The two got some quick wickets and put the
opposition on the back foot until Raj bowled an over that almost got them on the front foot. However wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals and the bowlers - Arvind, Fattu (he managed a wicket Maiden too!!!), Madhavan and Raj- succeeded in maintaining steady pressure on the opposition. The fielders too backed up the bowlers. Raj's superlative effort at short midwicket off a full toss from Madhavan is one of the best catches ever taken by a Foobar player. The batsman tried to go over Raj's head only to find Raj, his hands outstretched diving full length to his right in Jack-and-Jill-came-tumbling-after manner. According to jobless Foobar Cricket enthusiast, Ronnie Patterson, Raj's catch was reminiscent of another superlative effort by another Foobar player, Prakash Saxena a couple of years back. The Indiglo innings finally capitulated with the score at 78 with an over to spare. And thus Foobar continued their unbeaten run making it 3 victories in as many outings.
"It was a very one sided affair. For most of the match it looked like there was only one team playing. And by the way, I am more interested in the maiden that Fattu got for himself...hmmm...interesting", said Investment Banking Expert and a self confessed cricket junkie, Nitesh Naidu, displaying mindboggling understanding of the gentlemans game.
Disclaimer: All names have been changed to protect Identity.
Comments