Chapter 23: SVS v/s SLS [5]
Raghav shook his head. He gritted his teeth, the Iron Grit trait flaring back to life, caging the pain once more.
"No. I'm okay. I'm watching."
Sarma paused, his hands on the bandage. He looked at the 12-year-old kid, who was pale, covered in dirt, and vibrating with pain, yet whose eyes were already focused back on the field.
He finished his work in silence and stood up.
"Gourav! Mid-Wicket! Get back! Don't let him get a single!" Sarma roared, his voice that of a coach once more.
Raghav was now a spectator. A wounded general, forced to watch the last stand from a distant hill.
On the field, the ten men of his team had gathered in a huddle.
The hole Raghav had left at Deep Third Man was a gaping wound in their field setting.
"Listen up!" Vikram's voice was hoarse. He pointed with his chin towards the bench.
"You see him? He broke his hand for this. For us. He took two catches and a run-out with a broken hand. Ten men? So what. We are not letting that be for nothing."
He looked at Gourav, who was still shaken from the beating Thomas had given him.
"He gave us a chance. We do not waste it. Every single ball, you dive. I don't care if it hurts. It doesn't hurt as much as that."
The huddle broke. Ten pairs of eyes, all burning with a new, desperate fire, fanned out across the field. They were no longer a school team. They were a fortress.
The new batsman, a nervous-looking #5, took his stance. Thomas was at the non-striker's end, flexing his grip on his bat, his eyes like thunder. He was furious.
Prakash, the off-spinner, had the ball.
Score: 58/3. Target: 97. (39 runs needed)
The game resumed.
And Thomas was in a hurry.
Over 11 (Bowler: Prakash. Batsman: Thomas)
[Ball 11.1] Prakash, seeing the new, aggressive field, tossed the ball up, trying to bait him. It was a mistake. Thomas let out a roar and launched himself at it.
CRACK! A brutal Slog-Sweep.
The ball sailed high and deep over Mid-Wicket. SIX.
Score: 64/3. (33 runs needed)
The SLS dugout, which had been quiet, exploded. This was the Juggernaut they knew.
[Ball 11.2 ] Prakash, terrified, flattened his trajectory. A fast, flat ball. Thomas was waiting. He rocked back and cut it, a vicious, scything motion.
The ball rocketed past Point. FOUR.
Score: 68/3. (29 runs needed)
[Ball 11.3 ] Thomas was a machine. He saw the Long-On fielder was deep and just punched the ball down the ground. An easy single.
Score: 69/3. (28 runs needed)
He was now at the non-striker's end, and the nervous #5 had to face.
The #5 batsman, under immense pressure, somehow managed to block the last three balls of the over, his bat shaking in his hands.
End of Over. 11 runs from it. The hope that Raghav had bought with his body was evaporating under the assault.
Over 12 (Bowler: Gourav. Batsman: #5)
Vikram ran up to Gourav. "He's scared of Thomas. Don't give him an easy single. Bowl at the stumps."
[Ball 12.1 ] Gourav ran in. A fast, straight Yorker. The #5 batsman just managed to get his bat down. A Block. (Dot ball).
[Ball 12.2 ] Another Yorker. The batsman, in panic, squirted it out to Square Leg. "NO!" Thomas roared from the other end, but it was too late. The batsman was already running. A single.
Score: 70/3. (27 runs needed)
Thomas was back on strike.
[Ball 12.3 (to Thomas) ] Gourav, his eyes squeezed shut in concentration, ran in and bowled as fast as he could, just outside Off-Stump.
Thomas, seeing the 10-man field was spread thin, didn't go for a six. He just angled his bat, a calm, professional Glide, and guided the ball into the massive, empty gap at Third Man—the very spot Raghav should have been.
The ball rolled leisurely for Four.
Score: 74/3. (23 runs needed)
It was a calculated, cruel, and intelligent shot. Thomas was punishing them for their weakness, for their 10-man status.
The game wore on. The 10 fielders were running twice as hard. They were diving, tumbling, and saving runs they had no right to save.
A Cover Drive that was a certain boundary was met by a full-length dive from Vikram, keeping it to two.
A leg-side Flick was cut off by Rohan, who was now fielding and keeping wicket in his mind.
But Thomas was too good.
He was a professional among children. He took his singles, hit his boundaries, and the score kept climbing.
Score: 88/3. (End of Over 18)
It was the final over. Over 19.
SLS needed 9 runs to win.
Thomas was on strike, batting on 62. He was a monster, an immovable object.
Coach Sarma, from the boundary, just nodded at Vikram. It was his call.
Vikram looked at Gourav, who was breathing heavily, exhausted. He looked at Prakash, the spinner.
"Prakash," Vikram said, his voice a rasp. "One more.... Give me one more."
He was gambling. Gambling that Thomas, in his arrogance, would make a mistake against the slow ball.
On the bench, Raghav gripped his own leg, his broken hand a dead weight. "Come on, Prakash... come on..."
Over 19 (Bowler: Prakash. Batsman: Thomas)
On Field - Every man was on the boundary. It was a 9-run fortress.
Ball 19.1: Prakash, his heart pounding, walked in. He tossed the ball up, a brave, looping Off-Break.
Thomas's eyes lit up. He had been waiting for this.
He planted his front foot and swung, a clean, powerful, perfect arc.
The ball vanished. It went high, high over Long-On, over the trees.
SIX.
Score: 94/3. (3 runs needed)
The SLS dugout was on their feet, screaming, hugging. It was over. Three runs needed. Five balls left. Thomas, the hero, was on strike.
Thomas smirked at Prakash, who looked like he was about to cry.
Ball 19.2: Prakash, on pure instinct, bowled again. Another toss.
Thomas, in his arrogance, tried to end the match with another six. He swung, even harder this time...
...and missed.
The ball, slower than he expected, dipped under his bat. (Dot ball).
[Last six ball: 6,0 ,]
Score: 94/3. (3 runs needed)
A murmur. Thomas's smirk vanished.
[Ball 19.3 ] Prakash, his hope suddenly back, tossed it up again.
This time, Thomas was cautious. He wasn't going to be made a fool. He simply punched the ball, hard and flat, to the Long-On fielder. An easy single.
[Last six ball: 6,0,1]
Score: 95/3. (2 runs needed)
The fielder collected it.
And then, the entire field, the entire stadium, froze.
Thomas, by taking the single, had put the nervous #5 batsman on strike.
The #5 batsman, who had been a spectator for this entire drama, looked like he was about to be sick.
Thomas, at the non-striker's end, was staring at him.
"Just get a single, man! Just touch it!"
Vikram, in a flash of brilliance, brought all ten fielders into the inner circle. The fortress was no longer on the boundary. It was a suffocating ring.
[Ball 19.4 ] Prakash tossed it up. The ring of fielders was terrifying.
The #5 batsman, his eyes wide as plates, swung in pure, blind panic.
He missed. Completely. The ball went through to Rohan, the keeper. (Dot ball).
[Last six ball: 6,0,1,0 ]
Score: 95/3. (2 runs needed)
[Ball 19.5 ] One ball left to tie. Two to win.
Prakash bowled. Another simple, looping ball.
The #5 batsman, his nerves shredded, just blocked it. He was too scared to even move. (Dot ball).
[Last six ball: 6,0,1,0,0 ]
Score: 95/3. (2 runs needed)
It had all come down to this. The final ball.
The Juggernaut, St. Louis School, needed two runs to win. One run to tie.
And the man who had scored nothing, the nervous #5, was on strike. Thomas, the monster, could only watch, 22 yards away, a prisoner of his own arrogance.
On the bench, Raghav had stood up, his broken hand forgotten. He was screaming, his voice raw.
"ONE MORE! ONE MORE, PRAKASH!"
Prakash took a deep breath. He wiped his hand on his pants. He turned. He ran in.
He tossed the ball up.
It was his best delivery. It floated, it dipped...
The #5 batsman, in a final, desperate act, swung for his life.
Whoosh.
He missed.
The ball sailed past his bat.
Rohan collected it cleanly behind the stumps.
It was a dot. They had...
"RUN! RUN!" Thomas was screaming, already halfway down the pitch. They were trying to steal a bye! They were running to tie the match!
The #5 batsman, in a daze, finally realized and started sprinting.
Rohan, the wicketkeeper, watched him come. He saw the sprinting #5. He saw the stumps.
He didn't throw.
He held the ball in his gloved hand.
He took two calm steps forward.
And with a smile, he dislodged the bails, the batsman still five feet away.
WICKET! RUN OUT!
[Last six ball: 6,0,1,0,0,W ]
The umpire's arm went up. The match was over.
They had won.
By one run.
For a second, there was silence.
Then, the field erupted.
The ten-man fortress, the team of underdogs, had done the impossible. They had beaten the Juggernaut.
Raghav, on the sideline, just sank back to the bench, the world spinning.
His team, his real team, didn't celebrate on the pitch.
They didn't even look at the SLS players. They sprinted, as one, bypassing their coach, a stampede of white uniforms...
...sprinting straight for the boy on the bench with the broken hand.
(To be Continued)