The Midwest Cricket Conference 2008 - Div 1 Results

So. It gets colder every day, frost warnings and a long winter in prospect. Very Very Late though it may be, not a bad time to recall a perfect day of near 80 degree temperatures (was it only 3 weeks ago?), when the best Div1 final the league may have ever seen took place. United won the toss and contrary to expectations chose to field, probably impressed by Phoenix's 3 highly professional (and eventually comfortable) run-chases in the previous 4 weeks. It was a 50-over-a-side final, and Phoenix came in with their plan set for precisely that - to make sure wickets were conserved and 50 overs were played out, and a competitive and defendable Washington Park target (200 or a little more) was set.

To this end, Sameer dropped anchor while the team played around him - the scoring was very slow, but wickets were kept in hand. Mehul was his usual probing self at one end, while Gopi was a revelation at the other - bowling an outstanding spell, surely his best-ever in our league, he started with 2 wides his first ball and then settled into a niggardly spell of 8 overs on the trot, with figures of 8-3-12-1! That wicket was Aditya in the 10th over (for 16, including 2 excellent offside fours off Mehul when width was provided), and Phoenix were only 25/1 after 10. Break was taken almost immediately after Gopi went off, with Phoenix 43/1 after 17 overs.At 20 overs it was 47/1 (at this stage Aditya's 2 boundaries were still the only ones United had conceded all day!), and United were in an excellent position.

Phoenix stepped up the pace after 20, Arvind allying his impeccable defense with some hard running, and hitting Dhiraj for a nice six when a loose ball arrived. He was beginning to look very good when he was deceived by Amit's turn, and gloved the ball through to the keeper. Athreya came in and kept up the pace, hitting 18 off 16, and at 94/2 off 30 overs it was now Phoenix that was in a good position. A hugely important double-blow by Gaurav (consuming Athreya and Diwakar in the same over) reduced Phoenix to 95/4 in the next over, however, bringing United roaring back and forcing consolidation-mode again (105/4 in 34 overs at drinks).

All this time Sameer had been rolling along serenely at one end, defending stoutly, rotating the strike - having played 10 years in our league without ever making a Final, his clear determination to make it count shone through. After taking second drinks and fighting off hand-cramps, he took charge in Prasanna's company, running twos, and smacking a six and 2 fours in the process. Runs suddenly came in a flood - 53 came in the next 7 overs, as Prasanna joined in with his own six, and Phoenix surged to 158/4 off 41 overs. At this stage, with wickets in hand, 9 overs left, and runs now flowing, their plan of early slowness (47/1 off 20 overs!) had paid full dividends - they were now set for well over 200, maybe even 220, in excellent position for a very good Washington Park target.

This was where this game took its first decisive turn - after a wonderful 73, Sameer was runout by a direct hit from Mateen (161/5 after 42 overs). And with 8 overs left, back came United's spearheads for the death-overs - Amit and Mehul, with Amit claiming Prasanna for a very good 25 in his first over back (162/6). Then Mehul took over with a magician's cocktail, just as he had done in the death overs against PakGym in the semifinals - here a quicker ball, there a legcutter, now a slower ball, then a quicker one, then (somehow) a slower ball that was both slow *and* bouncing over waist height (he bowled it 3 or 4 times, it went over the batsman's swinging bat each time!)... in his next 3 overs (the 45th, 47th and 49th of the innings), he had figures of 3-0-7-3! Phoenix, which had looked in command at 158/4 in 41 overs, were suddenly 174 allout in 48 overs - after scoring 53/0 in 7 overs to take command, they had lost 6/16 in the next 7 overs and the momentum had swung decisively towards United for the first time.

After Yusuf-bhai's typically excellent biryani lunch, United took the field chasing 175 for their first title, probably overflowing with confidence. Which lasted all of 3 balls, as Arun snatched the momentum back right away, getting one to rise on Adnan and catching the edge. When he repeated the dose in the next over to claim semifinal hero and former Ranji stalwart Kiran (top-edging a pull to a ball that got big on him), United were 6/2 and in serious trouble. Faisal was joined by veteran medic Doc Naveed, who while still on zero slashed hard at one in the next over.. and it flew at great speed over slip's head, who made a valiant attempt and got his hands to it, but couldnt hold on. United was under huge pressure, Phoenix was cock-a-hoop and wickets
felt like they might come any ball, and it didnt feel hugely important at the time. Oh how wrong my initial thought turned out to be!

Faisal and Doc settled in, fought through the pressure, and rebuilt the innings. 6/2 became 32/2 in 10 (with Faisal ominously quiet, and Doc the aggressor with 2 or 3 offside boundaries).. then 70/2 in 15 as runs began to flow and Faisal broke loose, lashing a couple of sixes. Phoenix had brought on Shiva to try and claim Faisal with spin,and after giving up 10 in 2 overs and at 70/2, he almost did, deceiving him in the air resulting in a huge and very close stumping appeal.
Two overs later (after the intervening break), Shiva finally got his man - Faisal went for his fourth six, and was brilliantly caught on the boundary by Sameer. The highest rungetter of the season had scored 43, and at 84/3 in 19 overs United was in total command, needing only 91 runs in 31 overs.

Phoenix has been very good this season at creating and applying pressure, however - it is a team that doesnt seem to ever drop their heads, and always seem to come back into a game by claiming wickets at important stages. The same was true here.. Gaurav came in with aggressive intent, smacking 13 off 9 balls, before badly top-edging a pull attempt off Sameer to pop up a catch (100/4 in 22 overs, 75 to win).
By now Phoenix had gone to a double-spin attack, taking pace off the ball and giving it air - and United's batsmen fell for the bait, going for their shots instead of milking the bowling. Amit was caught off Amish (106/5), then Mehul was deceived by a lovely slower ball and caught plumb in front (111/6, 64 needed with 4 wickets in hand, and a completely changed game with Phoenix in control). Mateen came in and defended stoutly, back came Shiva into the attack.. and Mateen tried to pull a short ball, and hit it straight to short-fine leg (120/7), as every move Phoenix made seemed to be turning into gold. Pace was re-introduced in the form of Prasanna as Phoenix rightly went for the kill with him and Shiva in tandem, and the captain's magical touch continued - Gopi was promptly caught in line on the pad-flap and LBW (124/8 in 35 overs and break - 51 needed in 15 overs, but now with only 2 wickets in hand and Phoenix in total command).

Returning from break Sudhir was promptly caught behind in the first over off Prasanna as Phoenix continued to go for the kill with their best bowlers - 126/9, 49 runs still needed, a million miles away.

Sometimes things need to be put in historical context, to realize their true significance. United had reached 3 Div1 finals in the past, and lost them all. In some quarters they had (probably unfairly and incorrectly) been tagged as a team that didnt play well in big games - incorrectly, IMHO, because most objective observers would have considered the Wildcats and Challengers to be favourites in those finals against United anyway, even before the matches were played, and in some sense the "expected" team that had dominated those regular seasons had deservingly won each of those finals. This was different, however - most objective observers had (for the first time) actually considered United the favourite in this final against Phoenix, just on experience if nothing else - an impression that was reinforced by lunch, when many openly felt 175 was a very chaseable target. And, at 84/2 and 100/3, it had indeed become a very chaseable target. And yet, the United middle-order had just crumbled - from 100/3 in 22 overs to 126/9 in 36 overs, 26/6 in 14 pressure-packed overs, and all the old doubts and questions had no doubt resurfaced in people's (not least the batting side's) mind.

It is in that context that what followed must be seen - as not just an good partnership under duress, but perhaps a heroically exceptional partnership under constant, intense, killing pressure where a mistake could have led to a permanent attachment of an unwanted label on the entire team.

And yet, it didnt start out that way - there was, actually, no pressure on anyone at 126/9, the game seemed to be petering out to a predictable conclusion. Doc Naveed had come in at 6/2 and was still there - 12 years in our league and no title to show for it (and only 1 final, where he top-scored with 90 for the Bears, and still ended up on the losing side)... like Phoenix's Sameer, his former Polo teammate, there was an intense determination to make this final appearance count, but it felt like it was too late. In his first year with United, Doc had not actually seen Dhiraj bat much before, and didnt seem to trust him to start with, trying to score all the runs himself (hitting Shiva for a four and a six in his last over - 136/9), and turning down several singles early in most overs. With the odd two here and a stolen single there (with much solid defense from both Doc and Dhiraj in between), United crept to 142/9 in 40 overs.

It was at this point I think, when the scorers yelled it was 33 to win in 10 overs, that pretty much everyone realized just what might be happening (including the batsman, who said afterwards that they had not seriously thought a win might be possible until this point!) From this point onwards we all got to see just what makes cricket the greatest sport in the world... many sports can create intense pressure and tension (bases loaded, 1 run down, 2 outs, bottom of the 9th), but there is no other sport that can so beautifully drag out the tension, so exquisitely elongate the pressure, the intensity increasing as every minute ticks by. This isnt baseball, where one crack of the bat and its done - great intense tension, but for all of 30 seconds, and then its over. Oh no, in our great sport the participants have to suffer the exquisite torture for a monstrouly long period of time - no one single brave hit can end it for the batsman, he has to withstand the pressure, the metaphorical knife at his throat every second, and still keep his nerve and carry on without ever making a mistake. The fielder and bowler have to keep at him every second, knowing they may just get one chance, and it may come anytime, anywhere- which they cannot, must not, let go. (And the poor umpire of course - concentrate harder than ever before in your life, make absolutely bloody sure you dont make a single screwup of any kind now, especially now, not on any ball. Drip, drip, drip, like Chinese water-torture at its best and most sadistic for all in the middle...and the spectators get to enjoy the spectacle for just as long as the participants can stand it :-)

Five runs came off the next over, only 2 the over after that - 149/9, 23 already added (in 9 overs), only 26 more. With no wickets for 9 overs already and mostly solid defense (and runrate not an issue), Phoenix took its one gamble - and a worthwhile gamble at that, bringing on relatively irregular legspinner Diwakar to try and draw that one false shot. Doc by now trusted his partner, and he took 4 off 4 balls and left Dhiraj the last two.. and Dhiraj took his courage in both hands and went for his shots, just as Phoenix had hoped. But, to his enormous credit, he hit them absolutely perfectly - a terrific offdriven four and a mighty six over longon, and 10 precious runs, each as good as gold, in only 2 balls (14 off the over). 163/9 now, and 12 needed off 7 overs.

This is usually the critical stage of partnerships like this, where the real intense pressure lands like a boulder on the shoulders of both sides, weighing them down most only when the safe harbour is actually sighted, the long-sought prize actually within reach. In this situation, almost always, one side will blink - there is a reason they say there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip. An easy chance offered (and either gladly taken or shockingly spilled), or a rush of horrible bowling by someone trying too hard to make something happen. To the enormous credit of both cricket teams on this day, neither happened - both sides amazingly held their nerve, both continued to play hard cricket and fight for every run. Amish continued to bowl tightly. Doc smacked a beautiful four, worked the odd run or two, and Dhiraj defended as if his life depended on it. Athreya was brought back to bowl pace completely "cold", not having bowled a ball in 25 overs.. and he responded with an over of impeccable line and length conceding merely a single (while twice catching inside-edges onto pad that saved near-certain LBWs).

Finally, with it down to 3 runs needed, Amish took the ball.. and Doc defended stoutly, solidly, with a dozen years of determination fueling the desire to avoid any possible misstep. The fourth ball of the over was quicker and slid down legside - a wide, it slipped past the keeper..and they ran. How they ran! "Like one who on that lonesome road doth run in fear and dread, and having once turned around runs on and turn no more his head, because he knows a frightful fiend doth close behind him tread". Faster than maybe ever before in their lives, they ran - and completed two, the umpire signalled wide, and it was all over.

Of all the hoary old cliches in cricket, the hoariest might be that there was no loser on the day, that cricket was the winner. Cheesy, silly, and something Ive almost never felt before - until probably this day. On this day, honestly, it really was cricket that was the winner. Phoenix was not expected by many to even make the playoffs - for the first time in their history they did, lost 2 vital players along the way, and yet made an amazing run all the way to the finals. To call their season a huge success is understating it - it was an outstanding, phenomenal sucess. For United, with their history of 3 finals losses and never a win, it was a game beyond their wildest dreams - from 126/9, an amazing 49-run last-wicket stand, for over an hour of intense unimaginable pressure...any first-win is special, but this has to be more special than almost anything they could have imagined.

And the real way that cricket was the winner - it was incredibly high-quality cricket under huge pressure at the end. For over an hour at the end, the two teams battled, fought with everything they had - and amazingly neither cracked. Phoenix threw everything at Doc and Dhiraj.. and they handled it all, never gave a single chance in that hour-plus of nerve-jangling intensity. That one vital mistake that both sides inevitably make near the end of a crunch game, which almost always decides it? It never arrived! It was quite awesome stuff to watch.

And finally, what can be said about Man-of-the-Match Doc Naveed? Maybe it was just coincidence that the top performers of each side had both been in the league for so long (a decade for Sameer, 12 years for Doc - both teammates for several of them) without ever really sniffing the title - Doc's second-ever final, Sameer's first. Or maybe it wasnt a coincidence - maybe the knowledge of how rarely these chances come, and how they must be grabbed when they do, led directly to the intensely determined efforts from both. For Sameer it was in the end an amazing effort - highest scorer in the finals, and terrific with both ball and in the field (a quite sensational catch off Faisal). For Doc, in the end, it will be an innings that will live in legend and song - coming in at 6/2 in a finals, and staying till the end with 65*, guiding the last man in a last-gasp stand for 49 for the title, it must surely (along with Vikram's tour-de-force against PakGym a few years ago) rank as the most valuable performance seen in league finals history.

It was a terrific season of cricket in our league all summer long, and, finally, a final worthy of a great occasion.

-- by Sadiq Yousuf