God of Cricket!-Chapter 33: Karnataka U19 [Pt 2]

Chapter 33: Karnataka U19 [Pt 2]

Gymkhana Ground, Hyderabad

Match Situation:

Mumbai U19: 145/4 (28 Overs).

Target: 286 runs.

Equation: 141 runs needed off 22 overs.

Coach Ramesh (Karnataka U19) stood beside the drinks trolley with his assistant, analyzing the field placements.

He was lost in thought as the match he thought would be easily won after reducing Mumbai to 45/2 was proving to give him a hard time.

One player had managed to induce a headache on him and although he knew the opponents played well as a team, he also knew that that same team would be less lethal without this player holding one end.

The player was none other than Aryan.

The Coach started thinking of ways to shut him down as the aggressive field settings he had employed on him in the first spell proved useless against Aryan’s placement.

Coach Ramesh, after much deliberation, decided to switch tactics. He signaled the captain to move to a 5-4 field (5 fielders on the boundary, defensive lines), which would help in cutting off boundaries while keeping the singles tight.

He entrusted the captain, Manish Reddy, to mark Aryan—that is, to bring himself on to bowl specifically to target Aryan during the middle overs.

[On the Pitch - Drinks Break]

"Yo Aryan, do you think we’ll win?" asked Gaurav, the 12th man who had run out with water bottles.

Aryan thought for a while before responding, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Well, we’ve played good cricket in this partnership and I think we can win if we manage to bring out that extra effort in the running between wickets."

"Also, we need to stop losing wickets in clusters," said Aryan while looking at the upcoming batsmen padding up in the dugout.

Coach Kulkarni sent a message via Gaurav. "Okay, listen up. I’ve decided to change the approach. We will treat the next 10 overs like a T20. Aryan, you will be the anchor, while the others rotate around you. We need to boost the run rate now."

Coach Kulkarni knew that switching to an attacking mindset could help them dominate the game and score more boundaries, but it could also bite them if the players didn’t coordinate well and lost wickets.

Aryan, who was eating a banana for energy, nodded at the coach’s instructions relayed by Gaurav.

"I know we’ll win guys. Let’s go that extra mile," Vikram said, rallying the spirit of the pair before the umpire called "Play."

The shouts of the fans increased as they saw the players taking their positions again.

The match had been exciting as neither team wanted to lose a quarter-final.

The new batsman, Harsh, took the strike. He passed the strike to Aryan as the bowler ran in.

Aryan took a single—before passing the strike back to Harsh.

Harsh, after he received the strike, guided the ball to the third man for a single.

The singles went on for a while as they wanted the Karnataka players to let down their guards and spread the field.

The Karnataka players, however, did not lose their guard. The disciplined bowling continued for about 5 overs without them conceding a boundary.

The momentum was shifting back to Karnataka as the required run rate climbed.

The match was getting a bit boring—and dangerous—with all these dot balls. Aryan dropped deep into his crease to receive a short ball from Manish Reddy.

Sensing that the fielder at short mid-wicket was coming in, Aryan used the pace of the ball to flick it over the player.

The ball went a bit finer than Aryan intended. The opponent player who was closest to the ball was the fine leg fielder, and he tried to cut off the ball, but Aryan, with his electrifying speed, called for two immediately.

Harsh, the Mumbai U19 left-hander, ran to the danger end—after seeing Aryan call.

Aryan, who was watching the throw, saw the fielder fumble.

He shouted "Three!"

The fielder, who wasn’t ready for that kind of aggression, faltered in his throw.

Aryan, after completing the third run, panted heavily. He sent a signal to Harsh.

Harsh, on strike now, saw the gap. He sped up his bat swing. He waited for the ball to arrive before releasing a splendid cover drive.

Harsh connected perfectly. The ball raced through the covers.

The fielder dove but had no chance as the ball was nearly at the rope before he moved.

FOUR!

Harsh punched the air. He had been kept quiet in the match and he struck when he got the chance to free his arms.

Coach Kulkarni pumped his fists in the air as he saw the release of pressure.

The Karnataka U19 Coach, Ramesh, however, sighed as his team was leaking boundaries again.

He convinced himself that there was still time as the required rate was still over 7 runs per over.

Coach Ramesh’s optimistic behavior seemed to help him as his shout of encouragement caused his team to start fielding with renewed vigor.

The Mumbai players too were relentless as they continued to chase.

The match became a game of chess as each team tried to outsmart the other.

The back and forth was unsettling for some fans while others were just enjoying the high-quality cricket they were seeing.

The Karnataka U19 team tried to get a wicket from a spin trick they tried.

Their spinner, Gowtham, bowled a wrong ’un towards the stumps hoping to bowl Aryan.

But he was denied by the solid defense of Aryan’s bat.

Aryan also played spectacularly as he was creating dangerous scoring opportunities here and there.

He would play a late cut that would end up being a couple or play a lofted shot which would land just short of the fielder.

The match continued as usual until Karnataka got a massive breakthrough in the 42nd Over.

[COMMENTATOR POV]

’This youth match has proven to be very spectacular as both teams have been relentless.

Mumbai U19 have been fighting back with Aryan standing like a wall on 85*, but Karnataka U19 are not backing down.

Mumbai No. 18 Aryan has been wonderful and I won’t be surprised if he plays for the Senior Mumbai Ranji team in the upcoming season.

Karnataka have taken the new ball (optional in some formats, or brought back the strike bowler) as I was speaking and they seem to be making good progress.

Their No. 10 pacer, Prasidh, continues to give the batsmen a tough time with his pace.

He runs in. Lovely piece of skill as he bowls a slower bouncer to Harsh.

Harsh still on the backfoot, trying to pull, and ’ugh’, he gets a top edge.

Now the ball is in the air, swirling near the square leg umpire. Prasidh calls for it.

Prasidh, running forward, and he dives!!!

Catch taken!

Awwwww wonderful catch by Prasidh. That was a wonderful piece of athleticism.

The commentator’s voice was drowned by the screams of the Karnataka fans.

Prasidh after taking the catch ran over the boundary ropes and went to celebrate with the dugout.

Coach Ramesh who wasn’t expecting such a wicket went bonkers after Prasidh’s catch.

Some of the players on the Karnataka U19 bench even joined in on the celebration.

-----------

Meanwhile on the other side, the Mumbai U19 players were distraught.

Aryan, who was not expecting Harsh to get out at this crucial juncture, had his head down.

Harsh walked back, livid with himself.

Although the ball which got him out would give a tough time to even senior pros, he was angry for not finishing the game.

The umpire signaled the Karnataka U19 players to get into position before he started the next over. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The Mumbai U19 players lost focus as they were thinking about a loss. The score was 230/6. 56 runs needed off 48 balls with the tail exposed.

Karnataka U19 however carried the momentum from the wicket and tried to kill the match as they attacked relentlessly with slip fielders.

The only Mumbai players who had not lost focus were Aryan and the incoming all-rounder, Tanush.

The Karnataka U19 team got a chance to kill the game off as Manish Reddy, their captain, brought himself back into the attack.

He bowled a yorker to Tanush who took a splendid defensive touch.

Tanush dug it out and released the pressure by taking a single, giving the strike to Aryan.

Aryan took a nice touch of the pitch—marking his guard for the final assault.

Manish’s over had split the Mumbai U19 defense open earlier, and now he was facing the set batsman.

Manish ran in. Aryan made himself bigger by stepping out of the crease towards the bowler.

Manish, still unfazed, tried to curl the ball (inswing) into the stumps once more, but this was exactly what Aryan was expecting.

With outstretched arms and a full swing, the ball took the middle of the bat.

It hit the sweet spot and went to the long-off boundary like a bullet.

FOUR!

The fielder Lokesh ran to cut it off but was too late.

Aryan, who was already analyzing the field, saw a chance to counter.

Tanush, who had joined Aryan, called for a strategy meeting mid-pitch..

Not wasting any chance, Aryan told him to rotate strike.

The next few overs were a blur of running. Aryan sprinted to catch up with the required rate..

Tanush didn’t stay behind and also went to provide support for Aryan by hitting a crucial boundary.

Aryan made a quick one-two with Tanush. Aryan, after getting the strike back, continued on his run scoring.

After coming to a one-on-one with the death bowler of Karnataka U19, Aryan tried to break through but stopped after thinking it through.

Just then, he saw the gap at deep extra cover out of the corner of his eye.

Aryan spotting this shuffled to off-stump.

The Karnataka U19 bowler followed suit, leaving his leg stump exposed.

Aryan, who saw this, flicked the ball to the fine leg boundary.

The ball raced away.

Over 48.5

Mumbai needed 12 runs off 7 balls.

Aryan was on 96*.

Aryan raised his head and saw the bowler approaching for the last ball of the over.

Aryan, who had seen this buildup, remembered a shot he had seen from a match against Australia by Sachin Tendulkar.

Aryan sped up his bat lift.

The bowler sent a low full toss.

Aryan, not waiting for anyone, scooped the ball first time with a maddening flick over fine leg.

The keeper, who tried his best to jump and catch it, was too late as the ball went into the stands.

SIX!

And with that, Century! 102* for Aryan.

The Mumbai U19 players went psycho in the dugout as they joined Aryan in the celebrations (mentally).

Aryan, who had just scored a century, ran to the non-striker Tanush.

"We did it—almost," Aryan said as he hugged Tanush.

Coach Kulkarni just nodded without saying anything, too tense to celebrate yet.

Priya, Riya, and Ananya, who were in the stands, jumped up and cheered as soon as Aryan hit the six.

Priya couldn’t help but cry.

"Come on Mum, why are you crying?" Riya said as she looked at her mother.

"I don’t know Riya, I don’t even know. I gu- I guess I’m just happy for my son."

Coach Ramesh, who was sure his team would win after the wicket of Harsh, couldn’t help but sigh again.

Aryan’s six was scored in the 49th over, and there was little work left for the Mumbai U19 team to score the winning runs.

The match ended in a win for the Mumbai U19 team in the first ball of the 50th over with a boundary by Tanush. The scoreboard displayed the results.

Mumbai U19 [289/6] def. Karnataka U19 [285/7] by 4 wickets.

Chandrakant Pandit, the Manager for the Mumbai Senior Team (Ranji), smiled at what he had just seen from the VIP box.

He stood up before making a phone call.

"Yes, he’s good."

He waited a bit before speaking again. "Call him up for the pre-season Ranji camp." He said as he left the stand.

The dressing room of the Mumbai U19 team was lively as the players celebrated.

They had qualified for the Semi-Finals of the Vinoo Mankad Trophy.

Aryan, who was celebrating, heard the familiar ’ding’ sound. He opened the messages as the holographic screen displayed in front of his eyes.

[QUEST UPDATE]

[3. Win in the Quarter-Finals of the ’Vinoo Mankad Trophy’]

Reward: +15 Stat Points

Status: Completed

Aryan saw that he had completed another quest.

He smiled before joining back in the celebrations.

Coach Kulkarni came in before the players sat down.

"So we qualified for the semis and are one match away from the finals."

The players cheered at his words.

"We were lucky as we didn’t draw Delhi U19 or Tamil Nadu U19. They will be playing against each other. We drew Bengal U19 in the semi-finals and it isn’t an easy match, so let’s put in that extra effort and get to the finals."

The players cheered at the news that they weren’t going to meet the heavyweights yet.

Aryan looked at his teammates and laughed as the celebrations continued into the night.

(To be Continued)