Of the Rain God and Cricket
Rashid Sharfuddin reports on the matches played against Welham Boys’ School andYPS, Patiala

Aayush Bishnoi is a Captain of few words. He lets his willow talk in most cases. Generally our man appears as a forlorn figure, oblivious of the things happening around him, but once he gets going, there is very little that can stop him, except maybe a YC. This, the Welham Boys’ junior cricket team discovered much to their dismay when he plundered 76 runs off just 58 balls on the first Sunday of this month.

The visiting school, fresh from being winners in the District tournament, won the toss and asked the host team to bat under an unusually hot March sun. In the absence of the regular openers, the School junior team opened with Dinesh Reddy and Itihaas Singh. Itihaas was dismissed early, but Dinesh went on to score 26 before falling victim to Rishabh. This did not deter Aayush from playing his natural aggressive game. Wickets fell regularly at one end, but at the other end he stood like a rock. He was finally dismissed by Gaurav, caught at mid-off for 76 runs. Skand Swarup and Vidur Yadav also made useful contributions with the bat to take the team score to 217 for six in 30 overs.

After lunch, A. Kejriwal with his clever blend of in- swing and out-swing picked up three early wickets to put the visitors on the back foot. His first dismissal was a beauty, a slow out swinger which kissed the batsman’s bat and rested in Neel’s gloves behind the wickets. After these initial losses, the visiting team put up a gallant fight-back led by their opener, Gaurav, who scored 49 runs before being bowled out around his legs, by Archit. Aditya Shekhar and Zayed tried to keep up with the run rate but it proved a futile chase. Amit Gupta picked up the last two wickets in the space of three balls to give the home team a win by 42 runs and a subz burger each.

TWO IN A ROW

On March 13, the school hosted YPS Patiala’s junior team, amid apprehensions of a washout. It had been raining consistently for two days and there was a palpable gloom in the air on the day of the match. The confidence-shattering defeat of the School team in Patiala a week earlier, hung heavy in the air. No wonder Aayush was in favour of batting first. Luckily, it proved to be a good toss to lose. YPS decided to bat on a wicket which was wet and damp. The outfield was slow and it was difficult to play the strokes. K. Sidhu and Sikanderjeet struggled against some quality bowling by Piyush Gupta and A. Kejriwal. However, it was Skand Swarup who gave the hosts their first break. Sikander dragged a short pitch ball over mid-on, only to be caught by Kejriwal. The big breakthrough came in the next over when the visiting Captain, Aditya, gifted away his wicket in similar fashion without scoring. At break, the score was 53 for 2 in 17 overs. A clear-cut advantage to the home side.

After break, the desire of an imposing score by the visiting side was thwarted by the spin duo of Aruj and Archit. The former was the pick of the bowlers, conceding only 14 runs in two overs, and picking up two important wickets. K. Sidhu scored 49 runs and Rajeshwar added 33 runs, to take the side beyond 100 runs.
A target of 111 runs to win and settle some old scores was by no means a small one, given the conditions of the wicket.

The school team’s start was slow and lazy after a heavy Sunday lunch. The first ten overs fetched only 23 runs. Itihaas was unfortunately run out early, and it was left to Jai Sharma and his Tata House team-mate, Rajdeep Deo, to steer the ship. Rajdeep was particularly impressive on both sides of the wicket. A very keen learner with a solid technique, Rajdeep scored an impressive 37 before being dismissed leg-before. Archit made a quick 31 and saw the school team home with more than two overs and seven wickets to spare. A commendable performance indeed! What next? A nice lunch to celebrate the dream run: it is only the sweet aroma of food that can move a Dosco to perform beyond his abilities. Pine Grove and Lawrence School, Sanawar watch out: The Doscos are on a hunt.