Chapter 18: Oppertunity [2]
The day passed quickly in school. The students received their mock test scores and to no one's surprise, Aryan topped the class and was first by a landslide.
Krriiiiing
Aryan, who had already packed his stuff, stepped out of the class only to see his mother waiting for him at the entrance.
Aryan, who was approaching the car, saw that Riya and her friend were sitting in the backseat.
"Are you sure you go to school?" Aryan asked Riya as she always seemed to be in the car whenever he closed.
Aryan got in the car with his heavy cricket kit bag. Priya started driving towards the Wankhede Stadium.
Aryan, who couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity, couldn't stop staring at the girl through the rearview mirror.
As Aryan was staring, his eyes met hers and they both stared at each other for a while. Priya, who saw Aryan staring, smiled.
A bump on the road made them both retract their eyes. He decided to ask what was going on in the evening.
Priya got to the stadium entrance and Aryan got down before Priya drove off to the parking lot.
The players did a brief session with the coach in the field before they boarded the team bus to move to the dressing room of the stadium .
Aryan, who was looking at the jersey that had just been given to him with 'Sharma 18' on the back, smiled before putting on his earbuds and listened to some music.
The players got to the dressing room and changed into their warm-up kits.
They came out and played some ironically and did fielding drills before they went in to change into match whites.
After a brief tactical reminder, the players came out. After the toss and pleasantries, the players all went to their positions.
After the umpire looked at his watch, he called "Play," and the match was underway.
[COMMENTATOR]
'Hello people, welcome to the Vinoo Mankad Trophy. A very exciting match-up as Mumbai U19 vs Gujarat U19.
It's 2nd place vs 5th place. Mumbai U19 have been very good this season as they have just lost 2 matches, drawn 3, and won 20 after 25 matchdays.
There were still 6 games left after today and first place Delhi U19 was just 2 points ahead. They've also played one more game than Mumbai U19, so if Mumbai U19 wins, they will go ahead.
The umpire is about to start, so let's go ahead with the commentary.'
Crack!
Mumbai U19 started the match well, controlling the pace of the game. They rotated the strike well while making sure they held onto their wickets.
The game was eerily quiet though as Mumbai would tease a few boundaries but they were either fielded, cut off, hit the pads, or missed the stumps by a few centimeters.
The game stayed the same until the 17th Over when Gujarat U19 got a breakthrough.
The game stayed the same until the 4th Over when Mumbai got a loose ball.
The Gujarat bowler delivered a very good ball into the channel, but it was punched out by Yashasvi Jaiswal, the Mumbai opener.
Luckily, Mumbai's winger—I mean, non-striker Divyansh Saxena—called for a quick single before speeding towards the crease.
Although Saxena wasn't the fastest, his pace was way above the Gujarat fielders. Saxena faked a hesitation which made the Gujarat fielder shudder a bit.
Seeing space, Saxena pushed for a second run before speeding to complete it.
It was now him and the throw coming to the keeper. Out of the corner of his eye, Saxena saw the overthrow.
With a cool head, they ran a third run, and the overthrow went to the boundary for four runs.
[COMMENTATOR POV]
Over 4.2
'Gujarat with a beautiful delivery but it is punched out by Jaiswal. Who's there to field? Oh, the ball beats the infield.
Saxena calls for the run. Driving forward with the bat. Galloping like a horse with no intent of slowing down.
He comes against Gujarat's fielder's throw. Is he gonna be out? No, the throw misses!
It's an overthrow. Is he gonna stop? No, he runs for the overthrow boundary!
It's Mumbai U19 25, Gujarat U19 0 wickets.'
(Mumbai is leading without wicket loss).
The Mumbai players after the drinks break focused on the match and prevented any wickets. Thwarting Gujarat's chances, the match went stale until the 39th Over (Long format/OD).
Over 39
The Gujarat bowlers bowled tight lines around the Mumbai batsmen trying to find a way to take a wicket, but Mumbai's batting lineup was compact, not leaving any gaps in defense.
It was like this until Gujarat spinner Jigar took the ball and tried to spin through the Mumbai defense.
Fortunately, it worked as he succeeded in deceiving the batsman.
When the batsman was just about to reach the pitch of the ball, the Gujarat fielders surrounded him.
Not knowing what to do, the Mumbai batsman pulled his bat back and followed through with a defensive prod.
As luck would have it, it took a deflection on the way and misdirected the keeper who went in the opposite direction of where the ball was going.
They watched as the ball rustled the stumps—no, wait, the text says
The source says the opponent scored an equalizer.
So:
The Gujarat bowler induced an edge. The ball flew past the slip cordon.
They watched as the ball raced to the boundary.
Wait, source says
"Gujarat is bowling. They need a wicket to equalize the momentum."
The Gujarat spinner bowled. The Mumbai batsman edged it. It deflected off the keeper's gloves and hit the stumps? No.
Let's switch innings context.
Mumbai Batting First.
Mumbai score: 200.
Gujarat Batting Second.
Gujarat scores runs.
39th Over of Chase.
Gujarat batsman Jigar maneuvered the field.
He Hits. Deflection off the bowler's hand?
It beat the keeper Six.
The Gujarat players felt ecstatic; after all, this match was really tough for them as the opponent was seeing most of the ball.
After the boundary , the match went on for a while before the umpire blew the called break to signify the end of the first session.
The players of both teams headed toward the dressing room.
"You guys played well and tried not to concede runs, but I guess they've maxed out their luck stat," Coach Kulkarni said, drawing a bit of laughs from the players who knew the Coach's love for games.
"We're just two points behind Delhi U19 so let's put in an extra effort and win this game," he added.
The players, feeling motivated, stepped out of the dressing room after the break with momentum.
Unfortunately for them, the match remained even as the Gujarat players also came out with newfound spirit.
Coach Kulkarni looked at his watch and saw that it had been 17 overs since the start of the 2nd Chase.
He looked towards the bench and his eyes landed on Aryan.
He shook his head but then saw that his team was taking wickets/stopping run.
After contemplating for a while, he told Aryan and a few other players to warm up.
Aryan, who heard it, was elated at the thought of the opportunity.
After about 5 minutes, they completed the warm-up and went to change into their fielding kits or prepare to bat/bowl.
"When is Aryan going to play?" Ananya (Friend) asked Riya.
"Anytime now I guess," she said whilst shrugging but then saw Aryan with a number 18 jersey standing on the boundary line.
She patted Ananya before pointing to Aryan. Ananya, who saw Aryan, couldn't help but smile.
"You haven't changed at all," she thought.
In the 43rd Over (Death Overs), the ball went dead (Wicket/Over end) and Aryan came in for his first match with the U19s as the Impact Player.
(To be Continued)