Ali woke up from his bed. It was the day of the first district match.
I still remember that day I first played for St Alphonso..
That was his first ever day of not worrying about anything but cricket. All he had to do that day was simply run between the wickets, and support Aditya by anchoring for him.
But now, since he chose a harder path, he had to worry about 2 games. One on the pitch and one off it. Ali wore his pants, and put on his jersey and jacket. Suddenly, the system beeped.
[NEW QUEST]
A Rousing Start
Goal: Win against Rosenberg Catholic…
Reward: 60 LP
Ali saw the new quest. The system hadn't given him a new quest in a while. If he got 60 LP, he would have a total of 100 LP. With that, he could buy a pro pack. With a pro pack, who knows what kind of moments he could get.
Ali took his kit, walked downstairs before eating his breakfast and leaving on the small van that was waiting for him.
Ali put the kit bag into the trunk and the bus set off for Rosenberg's home ground. Shrivastav and Manish called him over.
"Vastav, this guy is the reason you lost to me at the school tournament!" Said Manish, before introducing Ali.
"So you gave him the idea of short balling me huh? It takes audacity to do that to someone 2 years older than you. But I respect that, kid." Said Shrivastav.
"I just told him what I saw, that's all." Said Ali, downplaying his impact.
"Anyway, any ideas for today's match, little genius?" Teased Shrivastav.
"You might want to check the pitch and play accordingly." Said Ali, trying to hint at something.
"It's a good thing Siddarth plays at six in the batting order. We have to avoid getting out, as much as possible." Stated Manish.
"Great advice, Manish." Shrivastav began to laugh. "What's next, you will tell us that we need to get wickets?"
Manish, ignoring Shrivastav's comment continued, "I believe we will have to be completely defensive when batting. We have to slowly build a partnership, then choose one of their bowlers to target. Not just choose which one, but at the right time too."
"Well, from what my friend at Rosenberg told me, their main player, Marcus likes to hit the ball forward." Ali stated, "After consulting with Zayed, he told me last year, Marcus hit a century against Davangere North School, who are a spin heavy side."
"Who do they face?" Asked Manish.
"St Alphonso. Aditya alone is enough to deal with them, let alone Simran and Amir. Their fates are sealed." Said Shrivastav.
Suddenly, Suraj came over to them.
"I got a message from this one guy." Suraj stated, confidently. "He told me Marcus is opening, not coming at one down."
"Is this true?" Questioned Shrivastav.
"Yeah. He is literally Marcus's teammate and is playing in this match. So of course it is true!" Suraj defended his friend.
"Alright, that means we will have to change the strategy for now." Manish said, calmly.
They discussed a plan until the bus stopped at Rosenberg.
The bus stopped. The driver beckoned for them to leave, and one by one the twenty two students of Ashwandeep entered the ground.
"How weird." Shastri bemused. "The boundary lines seem to be out of regulation."
Manish, Ali and Shrivastav looked at each other. They were ready to execute their plan.
Marcus walked towards them.
"Good luck." Said Marcus, "You'll need it."
"Thanks." Said Manish, "You too."
They shook hands, before Marcus gripped Manish's hand while saying, "Don't underestimate us. We have improved."
"You're not the only ones who have improved. We did too." Said Manish.
Everyone took their places in the dugout, and the two captains stood in front of the pitch. The umpire threw the coin up before saying, "Manish, your call." Said the umpire.
"Tails." Said Manish.
"Tails it is. Bat or bowl?" Asked the umpire.
"We choose to bowl." Said Manish.
Shrivastav and Ali looked at each other. The first part of the plan was successful.
The Ashwandeep players ran onto the pitch, with Manish placing fielders at deep square and long off.
Marcus stood at the striker's end, wondering why he was opening the match instead of playing in his usual position.
The boundary lines are closer than normal? Did the Ashwandeep administration anger someone? Their loss.
The first six overs were all pace. Not a single spinner was bowling. Every ball was bowled to force Marcus to cut the ball for any chance of a boundary. But some balls still missed their line and length, leading to Marcus hitting a few boundaries.
[ Marcus 28* (25) | Kiriketan 11*(11) | 39/0 ]
"Something's wrong, I can feel it." Said Marcus.
"This is just another game of district cricket. Why would they want to manipulate anything here?" Questioned Kiriketan.
The boundary line was closer than normal, and the president of the association himself had come to see the match. Something was definitely wrong here.
The powerplay was over, and Manish changed the arrangement of fielders on purpose, placing 2 in long off and long on, and the other two at the leg side of the boundary.
The second part of the plan begins, Thought Ali.
If they want spin, we will make them sick of it, Thought Manish.
Shrivastav called Chinnar Rai over. "You'll be bowling the next over. All you need to do is entice him into hitting to the front, or stump him somehow. Do what you usually do, but be more incisive. We will take care of the rest."
"But Marcus is known to hit spin. Why are you sending me?" Asked Chinnar Rai.
"Today, we will be making him sick of spin." Stated Shrivastav, "He will hate it so much that he will become a pace hitter instead."
Chinnar Rai had slight doubts, but still accepted it.
He threw the first ball, a slower top spinning ball. Marcus tried to send it forward for a six, but it fell slightly lower, leading to them taking a double instead.
[ Marcus 30* (26) | Kiriketan 11*(11) | 39/0 ]
Why is the ball deviating so much?
Ali had not just researched the boundary lines, but also saw the pitch conditions. It was actually a spinner's paradise. Sahwit had messed up.
In assuming Marcus was the king of spin (at least in district level) he had forgotten to fix the pitch to support Rosenberg.
The next three balls were all hit only for singles or doubles. Chinnar Rai, rolled the ball in his hand, before bowling the fifth ball of the over.
It was Chinnar Rai's main weapon, the carrom ball. The ball skidded towards Marcus. He thought it was another quicker off spinner, so he unwittingly pushed his bat forward. A fatal mistake.
Not only had he chosen the wrong type of shot, he also had mistimed it. The ball flew very high, before falling into Chirag's hands.
Marcus had lost his wicket, at a very important stage of the match.
[ Marcus 34 (28) | Kiriketan 12*(12) | 44/1 ]
This pitch… what was going on? What was that type of spin? It was completely different from what I normally play against. Marcus thought to himself.
Meanwhile, Sahwit was arguing with the curator of the pitch.
"You didn't tell me that the pitch was suited for Ashwandeep's bowlers. Are you an idiot?" He scolded.
Ali looked at him once, before returning his focus back onto the match.
TO BE CONTINUED
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