Manish stood in a batting stance, remembering what Ali had told about Simran.
"He will bowl towards the wicket, but when he is in a weakened state it goes away from the wicket."
Simran was taking the first over, ready to take some early wickets.
The first 5 balls were exactly as Ali said, right to his bat.
But the 6th one cut away from Manish's bat. He immediately hit it away, sending it for a four.
For the next 4 overs, Manish and Samuel slowly built up a partnership. They faced each of the St Alphonso bowlers with all the intel Ali had given them.
[ Manish 16* (14) | Samuel 15* (10) | 31/0 ]
It was the 5th over. Up next was Kanav, a pace bowler with very low self esteem. Manish knew who to target.
Manish banged the bat onto the ground, making a loud noise.
Kanav's run slightly slowed down. He threw a full toss that completely missed it's original length.
Manish hit it for a four.
This continued for the entire over. It was like Manish was playing baseball instead of cricket.
Ali snickered seeing this, because it somewhat emulated a style of cricket the English would play in the future, called Bazball.
[ Manish 37* (20) | Samuel 15* (10) | 52/0 ]
Aditya meanwhile at his fielding spot was gritting his teeth.
Alright, let's try this instead. Thought Aditya.
He brought Simran in again, for his second over. He knew that Manish and Samuel would just play through this over. This was to get their confidence up. Then he would put Ravichandran in to bowl. For this to work, their confidence would have to be high.
Simran bowled his second over. Manish and Samuel put their heads down, ran and defended his every ball, like their lives were on the line.
[ Manish 40* (22) | Samuel 19* (14) | 59/0 ]
Ravichandran was then called by Aditya.
"I need you to stop their momentum, okay?" Told Aditya calmly.
"The powerplay is over. So don't worry, their wickets will soon be in your hands." Said Ravichandran.
The 7th over was to be taken care of by Ravichandran. He was a spinner who could also bowl pacey balls too.
Manish was confused. There was no Ravichandran in Ali's notebook.
Manish looked at Ali once. Ali was flabbergasted. Ravichandran was supposed to play for Baharys. Why was he here?
Then Ali remembered. Because he had cancelled the transfer of schools last minute, his spot was opened up. He had changed the future. The "Grand Knight" of Baharys no longer existed.
Manish looked once, not knowing how to face this bowler. He decided to defend completely, in order to protect his wicket.
This was fine for the first three balls, which went for dots and a single.
[ Manish 41* (25) | Samuel 19* (14) | 60/0 ]
Samuel too decided the same, and prepared himself, thinking he was to face spin. But Ravichandran changed the manner of bowling. It was a bouncer, flying high in the air.
Confused, Samuel tried to avoid the ball, but it dipped a little more than normal. Samuel decided to gamble, and tried a back foot loft.
The ball veered upwards, and fell towards a fielder in the deep. However he dropped the catch, leading to a four.
[ Manish 41* (25) | Samuel 23* (15) | 64/0 ]
Samuel sighed. Who was this new bowler? He thought to himself.
Ravichandran bowled his fifth ball, relentlessly chasing a wicket.
This time it was a faster leg spin ball. Unable to read the spin, Samuel moved forward to try and stop the ball.
But the ball had other plans. It edged his bat once, before mercilessly thudding into the wicket.
Ravichandran smiled. He had done his job.
Ali saw this and got ready to face Ravichandran. While he was doing this the system beeped once, as if to mock him.
He didn't know much about Ravichandran either, as St Alphonso never played them in his past life.
Samuel met him halfway before saying, "Who is he? He wasn't even in the notebook you had given us."
"I guess he is some new transfer kid." Said Ali.
[ Manish 41* (25) | Ali 0* (0) | 64/1 ]
Sahwit smiled. A variable for him to use.
"Master Asset System, mark Ravichandran Rai as an asset and use Asset Evolution on him. Quick settings."
[Understood. Done!]
Another notification came from Ali's system.
Ali frowned. Just when things were going back to normal. He looked at Sahwit once, who immediately looked away from him.
Ravichandran had changed. Ali sensed it. The Master Asset system was at work.
So you don't even trust the ability of the best team in the tournament. Thought Ali.
Ravichandran calmly told a few fielders to change their fielding positions.
He then ran forward, before bowling a slow top spinner. It rolled right onto Ali's bat. The ball then flew low towards Ravichandran's hands. Ali looked on in horror. But Ravichandran was still a bit too far. He dived, and the ball nearly fell into his hands. However, it instead clattered into the ground.
Aditya patted him on the back, before sending Ravichandran to a fielding spot.
St Alphonso had regained some of their momentum.
And momentum, in the stronger team's hands was like a armed martial artist.
The next four overs were characterized by one thing, and that was a lack of Ravichandran.
But Ali and Manish still remembered the information of all the other bowlers, and they were able to gain some of Ashwandeep's momentum back, albeit not as well as Manish and Samuel were doing earlier.
[ Manish 53* (37) | Ali 22* (13) | 98/1 ]
The 12th over was to be bowled by Simran this time.
Ali got ready again, deciding against playing through his over. He needed runs. And he needed them fast.
Sahwit sat in his seat, ecstatic to see this slow bleed of Ashwandeep's batting order.
He then remembered something. Why was that Ali kid looking at him with such intense hatred? From Sahwit's memories, Ali shouldn't even be in the Green House team, let alone the school team.
Wherever Sahwit went, Ali was the complete change from his memories.He diverged everything Sahwit knew, and had given him a complete sense of uncertainty.
A thought came into Sahwit's mind.
Ali was the one with the legends of cricket gacha system!
TO BE CONTINUED
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