On a day so hot it could’ve fried an egg on the sightscreen (30+ degrees with no cloud cover), we won the toss and wisely chose to bat, mainly so everyone could sit in the shade pretending to “strategise.” Amit opened with Mark, who immediately decided that the pavilion was a better place to be and walked back in the first over itself. Shiv followed him soon after, apparently also allergic to sunlight, proving our top order was fully committed to hydration breaks.
Then came Swaroop “The Dad”, determined to show his son that adults can stay on the pitch longer than a TikTok video. He and Amit settled in, rotating strike like they were on a gentle Sunday stroll. Maiden over? No problem, as the next one went for 12. Amit crossed fifty and Swaroop tailgating behind by the time we had early drinks break at the end of 15 overs. By 30 overs break, Amit was on 84, Swaroop crossed 50, and the bowlers were Googling career change options. Amit soon hit his first club century, and Swaroop followed with his own. They finished on 119* and 100* respectively, breaking club’s 44-year partnership record with 248 runs in 35.5 overs. The rest of the team celebrated rather than brooding over for not getting their batting.
Bowling? Well… the electronic scorer melted in the heat, so we couldn’t record it. In short, they lost two early wickets and had one long partnership, just like ours. But unlike ours, their run rate was very low and their partnership didn’t last as long as ours. Once broken, wickets fell regularly. Near the end, juniors came in, and Captain Manoj activated “Operation: Let the Kids Have Fun”. The smile on the youngsters faces after hitting a boundary was far more precious than taking their wickets. Boundaries were gifted, smiles were earned, and we still won by 112 runs.
Frimley GreenFGCC Innings
