Chapter 30: Top on Table
[Quest Update: 300 Runs Goal - Completed]
Aryan smiled. Now he just focused on winning.
However, wickets kept falling. By the 40th Over, Mumbai was 160/7. They needed 51 runs in 10 overs with tail-enders.
Coach Kulkarni made a tactical substitution—or rather, sent in the bowling all-rounders Jatin and Gaurav ahead of the pure bowlers.
The new batters, after coming in, rejuvenated the team as they tried to rotate strike for Aryan.
Aryan, who had completed the stats part of the challenge but still wanted to win, attacked fervently. Their efforts paid off as they pressured the Bhopal bowlers into bowling wides.
Lalit, the Mumbai tail-ender, managed to give Aryan the strike in the 45th over.
Aryan, who had to make a match-winning contribution, started looking for boundaries.
Batting with the tail, Aryan kept looking around, trying to find gaps in the deep field.
Aryan, who had taken the strike, moved to the off-side to create room.
The Bhopal bowler saw that Aryan had exposed his stumps and rushed to bowl a yorker.
Aryan, however, being faster, got his bat down early before flicking it through the square leg region.
Aryan raised his head and spotted the gap between deep mid-wicket and long-on.
Aryan, seeing this, eyes shone as he saw the space.
With a smile, Aryan played a Gap Piercer driven shot which seemed to dodge every fielder that tried to obstruct its path.
Aryan had activated the Gap Piercer trait and that was the effect it had on the ball.
The ball raced to the boundary.
Four runs!
Next ball. Aryan drove it straight. He called Lalit for two.
Lalit ran hard. They completed the second run. But wait—the umpire's finger went up at the non-striker's end!
Run Out!
The Bhopal players were ecstatic. However, the celebrations were cut short when the leg umpire intervened.
He signaled that the wicketkeeper had knocked the bails off with his gloves before the ball arrived!
Aryan, who was running to Lalit, stopped as his face turned into a frown, then relief.
He was pretty sure Lalit was safe. Lalit, who turned back to see the finger raised initially, went silent.
He sighed in relief as the decision was reversed.
There was no third umpire to consult, so the on-field call was final.
Aryan smiled wearily as he had gotten tired even though he didn't feel it physically due to the elixirs.
It seemed that his brain had gotten tired from the constant calculations, but his body had not.
The match continued as the Bhopal keeper kicked the stumps in frustration.
As the match went into the 49th over, Aryan created a few chances, but the big over was still not coming.
Aryan, who saw that the singles were not enough, decided to try a shot from long range—a lofted six.
He intentionally aimed the shot straight back over the bowler's head.
Over 49.4
Aryan took his stance. He needed a boundary to bring the equation down.
Aryan raised his bat before breathing in.
[Focus Lv 1] has been activated.
Aryan, who heard this, planted his foot and sent a backspin lofted drive into the night sky.
The ball which showed no signs of descent passed the area where the long-off fielder was.
The Bhopal players and Coach who saw this sighed a sigh of relief thinking it was a catch, but were immediately tense as they saw the ball sailing over.
Harsh, the next batsman padded up, watched as the ball cleared the rope.
SIX!
With a heavy swing, Aryan had volleyed the yorker length ball into the stands.
The keeper who had no chance was rooted to the spot.
Aryan, who stood there holding the pose, heard the 'ding' sound and fell to his knees in exhaustion.
Mumbai needed 2 runs off the last over. They got it in singles.
There had been a tense finish, but they crossed the line.
The umpire move his hand sign—removed the bails—to end the match.
Although the team they had played was supposedly weaker, Bhopal had really stepped up in the second innings and the fatigue had all caught up to the Mumbai players.
The players walked to the dressing room.
Coach Kulkarni talked a bit about how they only had one-two weeks before the National U19 Knockouts (Vinoo Mankad Trophy) began.
After his speech, he gave the players 3 days off to rest.
Aryan, who was dead tired, slept when they got into the bus for the return journey to the hotel/airport.
He only woke up when they got back to the Mumbai Academy grounds late the next day.
He got out of the bus and walked to the parking lot where he saw Priya together with Riya and Ananya waiting for him.
"How'd it go?" Priya asked as Aryan got near.
"Well, we won and we are going to play in the Nationals," Aryan responded sluggishly.
He reached them and smiled at Ananya before patting her head affectionately.
Ananya, who couldn't control herself in front of Aryan, turned away; her blush was apparent as her ears had turned plum red..
Riya, who saw this, rolled her eyes. Aryan, who also caught her doing it, patted her head too.
Riya also turned away. She liked things like these but didn't know how to convey or show that she liked it.
Aryan slept again as they got into the car, this time his head resting on Ananya's shoulder as Riya had taken the front seat.
Ananya, who couldn't help it, touched his cheek. She rubbed it a bit with her finger.
"What am I doing?" she thought as she put her finger away and looked at Aryan who was sleeping peacefully.
Aryan woke up when Priya pulled over at their apartment complex. He raised his head. Ananya just watched him.
As soon as they got out, Riya headed inside as her phone battery was about to die.
Priya followed behind as she wanted to heat up the dinner before Aryan came in.
"So what are you doing tomorrow?" Aryan asked Ananya.
"Nothing actually." It was a Saturday the next day so Ananya didn't have classes.
"Well, I got three days to rest so would you like to hang out?" Aryan asked, to which Ananya replied yes.
They both stood there silently for a while. "Well, see you tomorrow," Ananya said as she turned towards her door.
Aryan also turned and walked inside.
Aryan got out of the bathroom after taking a shower.
Without wasting time, he opened the Quest status on the interface.
[QUEST STATUS]
1. Host should score 300 runs and take 10 wickets in the remaining Zonal matches.
Status: Runs [310/300] | Wickets [10/10]
Reward: +5 Stat Points, +10,000 LP
State: Completed
2. Mumbai U19 should top West Zone Group.
Reward: +10 Stat Points, +7,000 LP
State: Completed
3. Win in the Quarter-Finals of the 'Vinoo Mankad Trophy'..
Reward: +15 Stat Points
State: Not played
4. Win in the Semi-Finals...
State: Not yet
5. Win the Final...
State: Not yet
Aryan, who saw the completion of the first challenge, put his phone down to sleep.
He remembered the news about the India U19 call-up that Coach Kulkarni had told him earlier and smiled as he kept thinking about it.
He fell asleep soon as the fatigue had finally caught up to him.
(To be Continued)