Rain was in the forecast, but the NECA Cricket match between Shaheen XI and MCC2 was planned anyhow. Being the host team, I tossed the penny and the captain of the visiting team MCC2 called it heads and like last week against SCC, the stern face of honest Abe showed face up one more time. MCC2 decided to bat first.

MCC2 struggled right from the start when openers, Chirag, Shalvajit and Anil were all out for a Duck. Until Mohit(10), Hari (15), Anand(19) and the Extras(19) kept the score rolling. Precise and accurate bowling got Zakir three wickets of the first 5 batsmen (Chirag, Anil and Hari) giving only 13 runs in 4 overs. The other two (Shalvajit and Mohit) were dismissed by Omer and Umair respectively. Then the fast and the furious Shujaat attacked the remaining batsmen: Anand(19), Ganesh (7), Ankies(4), Aditya(0) and got Dipesh run out for no score, hence capturing 4 wickets in 4 overs giving 15 runs. Assisting in the fielding were Aziz (a catch and run out assist), Umair a fine catch, Faheem 2 catches, and keeper Zeeshan’s two catches. The fine partnership between Hari and Anand contributed 35 runs to the total of 77 runs in 20 overs.

Opening for Shaheen XI, was Aziz who scored 6 runs when he was caught by Dipesh off Anil’s fine delivery. left handed Usman was caught by Arvind bowled by Anand for just 3 runs. Shaheen XI in that respect did not have a good start as well. At this point the Sun was trying very hard to peek through the rain laden clouds, but the sporadic rumbling sounds of angry clouds from above was proof enough that the Sun had no chance to shine its glory over the Municipal Cricket ground. Shujaat stayed on the pitch long enough to get a much needed 13 runs, before he succumbed to Chirag’s bowl that Ganesh caught off the bat in the slips. The Sun was not shining but Ganesh sure was as he caught a brilliant diving catch off Arvind’s delivery at the slips with his left hand – the knee jerk reaction drew applause and unanimously acclaimed as the: catch-of-the-day.  Atif joined in where Faheem(5) left off, but soon Atif was bowled by Arvind for 5 runs as well. At this point the run rate was low and the game appeared slipping. Despite the rumbling and drizzling from above, Najeeb did not allow that to dampen his spirit. He stayed on the crease to score 20 runs. The run rate accelerated when Najeeb hit a boundary and sent the next ball over the fence and that made the difference.Fine bowling from Arvind got him 2 wickets for 12 runs, fine fielding from Anand and Ganesh landed two catches each. At this juncture the game became more interesting, for one only 6 players were out and only a dozen or so runs were needed to win the match. Statistically Shaheen XI had the game in the bag, but now the rain was no longer a drizzle it had been promoted to a light pour. With only 3 runs remaining Najeeb in trying to make the winning score got caught by Arvind on Dinesh's delivery. So the score at 16.4 overs was 75. It was now up to Zeeshan and Umair to make the runs at a much faster rate than the rain drops falling on their heads, lest the game becomes a washout. The next team in line, the hard ball players were shouting to stop the game for fear of the pitch becoming too wet and making the pitch unplayable. They started to bring in the plastic covers to place on the pitch to protect it – so that after the rain they may still be able to play. Well aware of this dilemma both Umair and especially Zeeshan played the fastest innings he could play – as the plastic covers were getting nearer and nearer approaching the pitch Zeeshan and Umair were running the fastest possible. Before the pitch covers were almost there and the game almost declared a washout, Zeeshan delivered, and hit the winning couple of runs, enabling Shaheen XI to reach the target of 78 runs in 17 overs.

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