Having earned the right of passage directly through to the quarter
finals Cleveland 1 came up against traditional rivals Columbus, who have
come out victorious in recent encounters.

Amazingly the squad made the journey without drama AND on time. Despite
vehicles being hit for a $10 parking fee we were all in good spirits
thanks to the wonderful condition of the OSU ground, the perfect weather
and of course the importance of the occasion. Despite begging Gautam
not to waste everybody’s time by attempting to win the toss he had to
have it his way and it goes without saying what the result was. However,
all was not lost as we ended up doing what we wanted to do all along
field first.

Before we took to the field the significance of the day was not lost on
Gautam or the players. It was September 11 the day that will forever be
etched in US history as well as our own psyche and as a team we
observed one minute silence.

Unfortunately Ani who has opened the bowling all year has sustained a
shoulder complaint and was unable to bowl. Patrick shared the new ball
with Gautam and he would acquit himself very well against the talented
combination of Vindy and Hari. Despite the best efforts of Gautam and
Patrick both Vindy and Hari began to lay the foundation for a sizable
total, Hari in particular was finding the middle of that bat dishing it
out to the Cleveland attack, although there were a couple of chances. The
very next ball after the second chance Vignesh struck removing Vindy
for 14 off 41 deliveries. This brought Abhi to the wicket and even though
he was not scoring runs Hari continued to punish until Kiran dismissed
him in his third over, caught by Vignesh for 74. Two balls later Abhi
was on his way back, then Kiran took another wicket, his third in four
deliveries clean bowled and all of a sudden the pendulu! ! m had swung
back to Cleveland. However the talented Bharat had just arrived a
t the crease and a whole new challenge was about to take place. It was
not long before he made his intentions clear belting a couple of sixes
off the miserly Sujay who Gautam had held back from the attack in
earlier overs. Bharat’s ability to lift the ball over the cover fence from
deliveries well pitched up is quite amazing thanks to an excellent eye
and the strength he has in his bottom hand. In fact it was such displays
from Bharat that effectively ended the bowling career of this author.
Just before the scheduled break in what can only be described as a
tactical masterstroke Gautam brought himself back into the attack and five
balls later, Bharat was on his way back to the shade of the boundary
tree lbw to one of Gautam’s legendary slower balls. He had made 24 off 19
with two sixes and a four.

At this stage the break was extended considerably as a helicopter
carrying what looked to be a sharp shooter landed on our ground. Obviously
there thanks to the massive presence next door and because of what date
it was. This would not be the first time we would have extended breaks

Coming back from the break we may have had Bharat and Hari off the
field but there was still work to be done. Showing the benefit of holding
back Sujay, Gautam was able to bowl Sujay as well as himself in
tightening the screws, with that came the wickets as the last five wickets fell
for twenty eight runs, each wicket bringing more joy to the Cleveland
side. Being able to bowl a batting line up as talented as Columbus in
under 35 overs is an achievement in itself and keeping them to 170 was an
extra bonus. Far from being a push over it was a competitive score
certainly obtainable.

The Cleveland bowlers performed very well with honours being shared
between Kiran who took three wickets four deliveries having figures of
3/20 off 5. Sujay 3/32 off 6.4, coming back very well from his earlier
encounter with Bharat. Gautam took two wickets and Vignesh one. Sunny and
Jayendra (The Smoking Gun) Prasad bowled an over each without wickets.
While Patrick bowled superbly at the beginning of the innings bowling
sever overs straight for 33 runs. Fourteen coming off the last.

After yet another interlude thanks to helicopter landings we took to
the field with both Ravi N and Gautam fully aware of the task that lay
ahead. However something went slightly wrong with the game plan as Ravi N
was ran out in what can only be described as mystifying circumstances,
run out over a dispute over a second run. This bought in Vignesh who
was getting his eye in until Vineel delivered a brilliant in swinger from
around the wicket to get through the sound defence of Vignesh, clean
bowled for no score. A shrewd tactical move was made to promote Sujay up
the list and he settled immediately while up the other end Gautam was
accumulating runs but not scoring them in the way we have become
accustomed, rarely threatening the boundary, rather singles and twos. However
he was still at the crease and while he was there victory was more
likely. The ship had been steadied by the time break came ! ! around after
12 overs with the score at 2/45.

The helicopters arrived again, and after a female member of the
constabulary who would have great difficulty meeting a certain entry
requirement into police forces around the world eventually stopped taking
pictures of the helicopter, we got on with the game.

However that ship took a nasty turn two overs later when Gautam was
caught off the bowling of Krishna for 32. An innings that yielded one six
and no fours. Maybe it was due to the slightly slower pace of the
wicket that Gautam did not score in a fashion that we have become
accustomed, however I know for one that I would like to struggle and still make
32!!!

Ani then came to the wicket and after a few sighters unleashed a
massive six but was out two balls later. Launching into a pull shot he picked
out the safest fieldsman on the Columbus team, a couple of yards either
side of the fieldsman and the ball would still be rolling today. Ani
out for 9. Patrick was promoted but two runs later Sujay was on his way,
having performed valuably in his special role, but Cleveland were now
precariously placed at 5/80 off 21.4 overs when Michael came into bat.
It was at this time that Patrick decided something should be done. In
short Patrick layed into a couple of strokes that would have made his
fellow countryman Clive Lloyd proud. His second six in particular was
launched as the helicopters above the neigbouring Buckeye Stadium began to
take cover, it was clearly the biggest six any of us had seen at the
ground. With that the Cleveland faithful found voice. Ch! ! anting of how
Columbus cookies crumble, if this was also meant to encourage P
atrick and Michael they were sadly mistaken as they are the only two
members of the opposing squads who did not understand a single word. As
Ani began to make sure everyone kept their seats on the sidelines and
Ravi N around the corner without question, the equation began to favour
Cleveland with every over, and with that came disbelief in the Columbus
ranks. The usual rock steady Columbus began to crack. Unheard of
dropped catches, overthrows the frustration was obvious. Desperation even
began to set in when a senior member of the Columbus lineup made the plea
to his teammates that “Patrick could not possibly keep doing what he is
doing, you cannot keep hitting sixes like that, its just not cricket!”
With that Patrick launched another six off a more than reasonable
delivery from Vinod bringing the under the breath response from that some
Columbus cricketer “Well maybe it is!” In amongst the self-destructio! !
n taking place amongst the ranks of Columbus, Cleveland. Columbus
may well have made a tactical error in bowling out the very talented
Amit earlier on, but they had his opening partner Vineel with two overs
left and with the last ball of his sixth over he bowled to Michael, a
noise was heard, and Michael walked. Later he would find out that he
would not have been given out but that was ok, he had made an important 10.
This bought Sunny to the wicket. During the partnership between Patrick
and Michael various members of the Columbus lineup were certain that
all they needed was one more wicket and they were home. It appeared
albeit rather surprising to most in Cleveland that the Columbus lineup had
little knowledge of Sunny’s batting prowess, especially in a crunch.
This was borne out when they brought the field in only to move it back
three balls later Sunny smashed a four over cover, then again on the next
ball and two balls later the field could not go back deep enough as he
s! ! mashed a six. Patrick who was now playing a relative sheet a
nchor role watched as a relatively evenly poised game swung
dramatically into Cleveland favour. Sunny would be dismissed caught on the fence
by Abhi but his 17 off 8 was perfectly timed as Ravi P joined Patrick.
However Pat’s stay at the crease ended soon after when once again he
walked on a caught behind with five runs still needed for victory. Pats 51
off 42 deliveries was a terrific display of batting, mixing power and
touch in a welcome form arrival at the right time of year, and yes he
walked as well. With Patrick’s departure Jayendra (The Smoking Gun)
arrived at the crease. A couple of singles were taken before the smoking gun
launched into a drive that yielded two runs before the last over. A
single was taken off the first delivery and scores were level, on the
second delivery the smoking gun fired off a boundary as victory was ours.
As the Cleveland players streamed onto the field the Columbus lineup was
scratching ! ! their heads in wonder of the batting depth that w
e possess. It was a terrific tribute to keeping ones head under
pressure when so little really separated the teams. For Columbus the unlucky
Vinod took one wicket while Vineel took three but the best bowler was
almost certainly Amit whose figures read 7-2-18-0. Most impressive at
this level and he made the batsmen work on every ball.

It was not much of a surprise when Patrick was named man of the match.
Great praise was heaped upon his innings and justifiably so however it
was remiss of the judges not to mention his fine bowling performance
and how he took up the challenge of the new ball so well. In celebration
we all took Ravi N up on his statement last week and he damaged the
plastic for us all at the Udupi Restaurant in Columbus which some of us
took a while to get to thanks to Sunny's sense of direction!!!!!!

We would also like to thank Gaurav and Kaushal for playing perfect
team-men and helping us out of the field. Thanks too to Romy for
sacrificing watching Kenya bat against India in the champoins trophy; pretty sure
he got a better deal with our game!

Now the semi final is upon us and we can have belief in ourselves as a
team that we can take on and beat anyone. We can also be proud of the
way we conduct ourselves on the field. Despite the chips being down at
some stages whilst bowling we kept our heads and focused on the task at
hand. We also kept the fine traditions of the game at hand whilst
batting as well. In a game where the stakes were high and at a time in the
game when they were even higher two players walked when they knew that
they were out. Many times this season yours truly has bemoaned the fact
that so many players (and you know who you are - from certain teams –
you know who you are as well) refuse to walk even in the most obvious of
circumstances. Yet we maintained our class and stuck to the spirit of
the game. Who says nice guys don’t end up on top;)

Next week is another challenge……COBCA I believe….Lets Bring it
ON!!!!!!!!