Page 43 - WPHCCC 2024-2025 Yearbook

C4 Grade
WPHC White (Agniva) 1st 6/205 defeated Hornsby (2nd) 204 Day 1
WPHC Vs Hornsby 204
In our prior 2 outings with Hornsby (both one-dayers), we had finished on top so we knew the squad pretty well. Agniva our skip thankfully won this all-important toss, and put Hornsby in to bat first.
Starting off with our ever reliable pair Mridul and Pritam, the Hornsby openers did not trouble the scorecard much for the first 15 overs. But that is when the all important job of seeing the new ball through was done – and they started to play quite a few free flowing shots.
At the second drinks break, they were at ~ 50 odd for the loss of no wickets, and looking confident. We knew we had to strike, and strike quick. 70/0 and we were thinking in our heads, this is going to be a big total. Enter Agniva, who really troubled them with his top spin deliveries.
Soon enough, their opening batsman top edged pull shot towards leg slip. Mridul had very little time to react and after getting a quick head-start, outstretched his hand to grab the ball and it was all over for the opening partnership. We had our foot in the door!
Sayan was then brought in and in no time had a wicket via a sharp catch by Chintan at first slip, to the perfect leg spinning delivery. Agniva continued to bother the Hornsby batsman, and in no time, in almost a repeat of the first wicket, picked up another one straight to Mridul.
Adi then struck very soon in what can be described as the catch of the match by Chintan at first slip. 4 wickets in a span of 20 runs – we were back in the game.
We never really let them settle post this, and the father-son duo of Vinod and Adi bowled beautifully to pick up another 3 wickets. Talk about a ‘family contribution’. Chintan and Mridul picked up a wicket each shortly, and soon they were 150/9.
This is when things really slipped out of our grasp, when their no.10 batsman came in and had a 52+ run-partnership, of which he scored 50, before he had to retire due to a dispensation. The score stood at 204, a hard day’s toil. The team had toiled hard on a sunny 34 degree day, but we knew our batting had the depth to get this total the next day.