Yep, ACC4 is still going strong. Although this last match against Qui Vive 2 was a real challenge and there were some doubting faces to whether to pull this one of. It was unanimously decided by the Captain to bat first and after the toss, we did. Pumped up by having a good challenge and playing on a perfectly cut fast field, we expected to put a score of 250+ on the board. Having scored good runs for us last week, unfortunately Zahid got run-out in the 1st over without scoring a single run due to some terrible calling. By his emotions, we could see how important this game was to him. Amir came in next and although he and Sanjay managed to put 20 on the board after 3 overs, Amir played one cross-batted shot to many.

He left without a score and the stumps had to be realigned.
Being promoted to the no.4 slot, Imran gave descent support to Sanjay and we were 43 for 2 after 10.
With a pretty healthy run-rate and drinks in sight, things still looked fine. But it didn't last long, 2 wickets soon became 3 when Imran got bowled by a lefty.
Now, 43 for 3 after 10, Ali got in and he looked in good shape: blocking the good balls and playing the bad balls.
As the current 42 Laws of cricket, established by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) a while ago (source: wikipedia), also the law of Murphy also applied to us.
The spinner hit Ali's pad outside offstump but during the appeal, the ball rolled through under Ali's bat, just kissing the stump and a bail came of.
Also his emotions spoke louder than words. 60 for 4 after 13 gave me a moment and had to adjust the expected score just slightly to around 150 as long as Sanjay would stay in.
He didn't. Playing a beautiful shot to the squareleg boundary before, now found the hands of the fielder. A good contribution to the 70 on the board in 15.
Guy and I managed to bring some resilience as we used 4 overs to build a partnership of 8 runs before he got brilliantly caught at square, same fielder who caught Sanjay. It looked like a deja-vu only with different characters.
Saqib, usually in the toporder, came in and gave me the well needed support. Our partnership of 36 saw the score rise from 78 to a 114 in 8 overs.
Murphy just couldn't stay away, Saqib going for the second run, got run-out by a direct hit from the long-on boundary. A rare phenomenon in our league so we were all shocked and strangely excited.
Teja, Khurram and Omar, partnerships of 15, 7 and 11, stayed in as long as they could and were excellent in giving the strike back. Their stubbornness took us to a total of 147 runs when I eventually got out in the 35th over. I could say, revised target achieved.

Batting scores:
Abid: 43
Sanjay: 28
Saqib: 14

Now, even more pumped up Ali and I started the bowling with razorsharp fielders and it resulted in the first wicket with 8 runs on the board after 3.
Two overs later, with only 14 on board, I managed to pick up my second wicket, uprooting his middlestump after being hit for boundary a ball before. IMO, that's the sweetest revenge there is for a bowler.
Ali, still scaring the batsmen with his tight line&length and took his first wicket by uprooting two stumps of the openingsbat. 33 for 3 after 10.
This soon became 40 for 5 in 11 as Ali and I took two more wickets. The openingsbowlers did their job and stepped aside for the change bowlers to have a go. With success, from one end Omar kept the batsmen quiet, Sanjay from the other end, kept taking wickets. In between we managed to run-out the captain. The final wicket had to be taken with 64 for 9 in 20.
Rock-Paper-Scissors was played during drinks to see who wanted to take the last wicket.
Sanjay tried his best but besides bowling dot balls, no luck. Teja was tried too but the greeted the batsman with two full-tosses which were hit for boundaries. The second time, the ball was lost and we had to take a different ball. Ali, still on two wickets, was bowling kept bowling from one end but besides injuring the batsmen, they didn't give their wicket away.
Khurram replaced Teja and for the second time this season, he took a wicket in his first over. 96 all out in 26
A good fighting Qui vive made sure that it was a match to remember and could have gone both ways.

A special mention to the athletic skills of Amir, who certainly managed to stop many runs with his dives and backflips and made sure that we kept the pressure on the opposition.

Bowling figures:
Abid: 6-23-3
Sanjay: 5-1-14-3
Ali: 8-20-2

Man of the match: Abid Malik

AM