The Hurricanes almost choke ...Season tied at 13 apiece

There was a special buzz in the air this morning. 24 men and young men who made use of a glorious Saturday morning for a Clash Royale. As things stand, this is becoming a season to remember. Tied 13 apiece with one game remaining to be played. Its now or never. But this would have ended up very differently very badly for the Hurricanes. 

So back what really took place this morning. Ganesh Chaturthi Day and always a special one at Palladian. A lot of folks probably went against opinion at home to come and play this morning. And what a turnout we had a new member coming in - Akshat and drinking from the fire hose, Naren was back too and we had Raj and both the Sameer/Samir duo making their presence felt after a long hiatus. 

Vicky was standing in for Aashish and he won the toss and had no hesitation to put the Wolves into bat. The conditions were super dry which meant that the toss really did not matter so much. 

Ayush opened the bowling and bowled 4 on the trot in which he got movement, bowled outstanding lines and lengths and took some key wickets of Shiten and KG. Vicky with a lot to think about had a bad day with the ball which meant that Vikram came onto bowl earlier than expected. He did not disappoint with his opening over taking 2 wickets and with Ayush keeping the runs to a minimum, it was a game of who will blink first. 

This season for Wolves has all been about believing in the pack. While their alpha wolf was missing today, there was a strong resolve in the rest of the group with Shiten returning to do something special and close the season today. With Samir back in the fold, and a long line up, the batters started believing. Manoj played a great cameo , Raj smacked a few around and Chaitanya started finding his groove thanks to the Hurricanes fielding which missed a catch and run out. Samir also played with resolve and kept finding the fence. 

Bipin scored a direct hit from the boundary to get Samir run out which was a critical wicket as Samir was starting to find his range. 

Dhruv has been the man for the Hurricanes to go to all season but he seemed to be trying too hard and the ball was not coming out of his hand as expected. With Ayush done, it required a few tight overs and the lanky chap delivered. A bunch of wickets fell in the last few overs when another 15 would have made a massive difference. The Wolves were finally all out in 14.2 overs with the last 4.2 overs only yielding around 14 runs. 

The chase was tantalisingly placed. 94 is a score which can look easy provided you have a decent start but its also par on most days at the maidaan. 

Wolves opened the bowling with Shiten and KG. Shiten was fantastic in his new found passion for bowling short of length thunderbolts. Vicky decided to send the new man Akshat to open with the ever dependable AK and they started very well. All it needed was some smart cricket and with AK finding the boundary every once in a while it seemed like an easy victory for the Hurricanes. Kiran joined AK at the fall of the first wicket thanks to an unnecessary run out and batted very fluently. The score kept ticking and the Wolves were the quieter bunch. Kiran then got out to Shiten off a smart catch from Ahaan which brought Sameer to the crease. He smoked a few but in the hurry he was to catch the next train, he perished. This got in Hari to the crease and you felt it was all set up for him to take the Canes home. 

On came Satya who of course had other plans and as he has done all season, he took a great caught and bowled to snare Hari for a duck. This got Vikram to join AK who was watching something which he now has seen quite often this season. The Canes losing their sugar. 

Vikram and AK batted sensibly getting the fence hits to keep the score moving along but there were no singles or rotation of strike. The dot ball pressure meant we lost both the set batters and the Hurricanes needing 19 off the last 4 overs with 5 wickets in hand. Another tight over from Satya meant that the pressure was now all on the Hurricanes. Suddenly the Hurricanes felt a game that was theirs was going from their grasp and with that the season. 

It finally came to the last over with 7 needed of 6. 

Chaitanya with the ball and Arjun facing. 

Ball 1, short of length and Arjun in no position ,pulls it over the leg side fence. 

7 now needed of 5 ....

Ball 2 , Vicky the new batter get a ripper of a yorker but its called no ball for over stepping. Free hit gets smoked for a straight boundary which dissects the fielders. 

Ball 3 , Vicky nonchalantly lofts the ball high and handsome to get the Hurricanes a famous victory. 

You needed to be there to feel the tension. This was a game where credit needs to be given to the Wolves to make a match of it. The Hurricanes will be happy with the W but know that Lord Ganesha played a part. 

13-13 who would have expected that. Wonderful game, wonderful spirit and cricket rocks ...

MoM : Ayush for his outstanding opening spell. Keep it up buddy!!