People with a history of recent surgery, heart trouble/high blood pressure, neck trouble, back trouble, or any other condition that may be aggravated by jumping or screaming should carefully heed all warning signs. If you are in doubt about your ability to safely experience a Bombay Boys match, please refrain from attending. We’ll be happy to brief you once the match is over.
Watching a cricket match being played by the Bombay Boys team is definitely not for the faint hearted and this was proved once again during the third such fast-paced match between Bombay Boys and Company. On the 16th of July 9:00 AM BB won the toss and elected to bat.
KT retained his #1 spot at the MVP standings as the BB’s 9th match against Company petered out to a draw at Lord's on Tuesday. He top-scored the innings with 28, Saurabh not too far behind at 26 as the duo played sensibly and put BB in a strong position; the score steadily building through the first 10 overs. The opening partnership took BB past 50 at the end of 10 overs. BB looked strong into the 14th over scoring 70 runs for no loss of wickets. Sensing a visibly relaxed innings, BB spectators stretched out under the new addition to the BB team – the beach umbrella (chuckle! How could I not mention this!). However, both batsmen were eventually dismissed in a fashion similar to the previous match scenario, in back to back overs. KT and Saurabh were both caught behind in the 14th and 15th over respectively. The run rate had slowed down a bit following the halftime break but BB seemed comfortably placed at this point. Paras came and went for 7 off 10 – that included a power packed six and Monty posted a solid 21 off 20 – one six and one four to his credit. BB was eyeing to overcome the slow run rate but fortune (and strong bowling skills of course) favoured the toiling bowling side as BB lost 4 quick wickets in the last 4 overs. Abhishek, Jitesh, Milind and Satchit brought up the end of the innings with BB posting a total of 104 runs at the end of 20 overs.
BB was ecstatic during their start of the bowling innings as they took 3 crucial wickets in the first 3 overs of the match dismissing opener Prakash for a duck with a direct hit from KT and Satchit (WK) taking some good catches. Of special note was the brilliant single-handed catch by Milind which was instrumental in tying down the Company score. 1-down batsman Pranit was dimissed for a measly single and 2-down Pavan for 4 runs. Company struggled to find a footing and inched along till the 7th over when they lost their 4th wicket. As the “star player” walked back frustrated, he threw his bat over the fence prompting the Company team to yell foul and “Poor Umpiring” and “Umpire down down” at which stage the umpire become super serious and started declaring every other seemingly normal ball as a No-Ball or a Wide and I am not biased as I say this.
However, in walked their 4-down Ashok and changed the name of the game as he took the lead and along with the other batsman Bashyam starting accumulating runs providing Company the much needed breakthrough frustrating the BB bowlers. At the end of 10 overs the score stood at 40 runs after the loss of 5 wickets. Company needed 65 from 60 to secure a win.
Company steadied and continued without any further loss of wickets till the 16th over when the score read 78 and they lost their 6th wicket and Ashok walked back. Skipper Girish who then walked in and Bashyam labored to achieve the target. 20 off 18 required. Crucial wicket taking moments in the succeeding overs instilled confidence in BB yet it was not over yet. Overflowing extras did not help either. 11 in 12 balls. A solid run out by Pramod and Satchit ensured one more loss of wicket for Company. The opposition was losing wickets by the dozen but still stayed put. 6 runs in 6 balls. Incredible tension. And a wicket ! 3 in 2. Déjà vu all over again. At the end, the last ball of the over ended with Company scoring 2 runs and the match ended in a stalemate.
BB needs a serious check on extras. We ended up giving 29 extras – that’s almost 5 whole overs. Even with the alleged poor umpiring which might have accounted for 6 at most, that is still a lot.
BB has been consistently reaching the top 4 in the group for the past few years, what remains to be seen is how we perform in the knockouts. BB retain their league group #1 position and now move on to their next much-awaited match against India-XI on July 24, 2011 9:00 AM . Watch at your own risk !
