Page 44 - WPHCCC 2024-2025 Yearbook

Day 2
WPHC 6/205 defeated Hornsby 204
Replenished and well rested, Chintan and Arun strode out to the middle, with a clear goal of going for the win.
If only everything came so easy. Hornsby opening bowlers brought their A-Game to the final a well, and soon we had lost Chintan, Anubhav, Adi and Suf.
We really were struggling at 17/4. The sight of Arun on his knees with his head down echoed all of our sentiment – were we going to just let Hornsby win so easily ??
What I am about to write about next is the stuff of fairytales, and something we only witness on rare occasions – thankfully this was one of them.
Enter to the crease, the iron-willed Praneel.
Before I go into what happens next, let me give you a little bit of a background of this young lad.
Those who have played with him before know all too well how “patient” he is, whether it is on the field or in the nets. I don’t think I remember him ever not throwing his bat after he got out, or missing a single session in the nets in previous years. This season though, we got to witness an entirely different Praneel Singh.
Never turned up for any training session, and was extremely patient. As Anubhav put it in the semis “ Praneel, you have to leave behind your beauty and become a beast again”.
Now, where were we .... Ah yes, 17/4.
Arun then started to play some beautiful shots and really got the scoreboard ticking. His innings formed the core of what was to come. A solid foundation. Praneel got into it as well, seeing the ball as large as a watermelon, he could do no wrong. Patiently respecting the good balls and punishing the bad. These 2 put on an all important MUCH NEEDED partnership of 82, until Arun was bowled falling just 1 run short of what would have been a very well deserved half century.